Every sporting contest has an underdog, and in this year’s Interdominion Trotting Championships, which open in Melbourne tonight (Saturday), that contender is Mosgiel horse, The Fiery Ginga.

The five-year-old’s tale is straight out of a storybook: a battling owner-trainer with unconventional methods, a near careerending truck crash, and a determined will to win which has seen The Fiery Ginga go from one of racing’s back-blocks to being a genuine chance in an international series.

Alan Clark has seldom had a horse like The Fiery Ginga and, if he has, it has normally been sold. All his horses are on the market, including the stable star, but in the case of The Fiery Ginga no-one has come knocking.

That suits Clark fine, and he is looking forward to mixing it with harness racing’s leading lights in Australia.

A series of group race placings in the past month has seen The Fiery Ginga qualify for the Interdominions, where the best horses from both sides of the Tasman clash for rich stake money and a place in trotting history.

The white-hot atmosphere of an Interdominion is far removed from Clark’s usual raceday experience at Otago’s country tracks, but is something which does not faze him.

“I have taken young horses to Australia, so I know the sort of ability it takes to measure up to the good ones over there,” he said.

“You have to aim for those classic races, and I enjoy driving in them. It doesn’t bother me what the stake is or who the field is: I just drive the horse so it can show the ability I know it’s got.”

Clark has always known The Fiery Ginga was good.

“I broke him in as a yearling, and we were running in behind another horse. As soon as I let him go, I knew how good he was.

“The other horse was a good trotter, but within 50m he had put five lengths on him. He’s always had tremendous ability, it’s been a matter of his maturing mentally.”

Clark has raced The Fiery Ginga according to his ability, against the best of his age group and often against older horses. The horse has raced 62 times for 17 wins, and often backs up after just a few days rest for another race. That is not normally how it’s done, but Clark’s philosophy is racehorses don’t win anything home in the paddock.

“I train them younger and possibly harder than other people, but my horses don’t break down,” he said. “Horses should always be ready to run.”

The opening heats are at Shepparton tonight, with the second round at Ballarat next Saturday. The grand final is at Melton on February 4.