Australian Group One winning trotter, Dance Craze, has accepted an invitation to the 2018 Harness Jewels.

Following the withdrawal of Custodian from the 4YO Ruby yesterday, interest was high from the connections of the former Breeders Crown winner to take part in the race.

A four-year-old mare by Muscle Hill out of the great mare, La Coocaracha, Dance Craze has an impressive career record of 11 starts, 8 wins, and 2 seconds.

Included in that haul, along with her Group One Breeders Crown win, is a Group Two victory in the Trot NSW Three-Year-Old Final. She also placed second in the Group One Victoria Trotting Derby, and second in the Group One Need for Speed Princess Final last season.

Dance Craze resumed just yesterday (17 May) with a win as a four-year-old when successful at Ballarat.

She is prepared by Anton Golino of Cardigan in Victoria, who trains exclusively for the owners (Yabby Dam Farms).

Golino’s rise to success has been a remarkable one. After being involved in a motorbike accident when a farrier, he was forced into a wheelchair for a year. It was after that he decided to head to the United States to expand his skills.

His experience with Noel Daley there then led him to work in Sweden and France, and upon returning to Australia to train he was then approached by Pat Driscoll to work for Yabby Dam Farms.

The partnership has gone from strength to strength.

Dance Craze is regularly driven in Australia by Nathan Jack, who was set to bring Custodian to the Jewels prior to the horse being withdrawn.

Her dam La Coocaracha was an outstanding trotter. She was a three time Group One winner and amassed 23 victories during her career.

One of her Group One wins came on New Zealand soil when successful in the 2002 Rowe Cup at Alexandara Park.

Dance Craze will now try and emulate her dam by taking success at the highest level in New Zealand.