Leap To Fame - 2024 Blakes A Fake Win Photo by Dan Costello
LEAP To Fame's latest and greatest win continued his dominance of this year's Australian Grand Circuit.
Grant Dixon's five-year-old did all the work in last Saturday night's $400,000 Blacks A Fake at Albion Park and still raced clear to win easily and smashed the track record with a 1min53.8sec mile rate for the long 2680m trip.
It continued his phenomenal first full season on the Grand Circuit and fuelled the discussion about his place among the Australian pacing greats of all time.
"He's got to be up with the best we've seen now," owner Kevin Seymour said.
"I told you a year ago he had that sort of potential and look at what he's done since."
Over the past 12 months, Leap To Fame has won an Inter Dominion, Hunter Cup, Miracle Mile and now Blacks A Fake – Queensland's biggest race.
Leap To Fame's win was his 41st from just 52 starts and his 11th at Group 1 level. He's now banked $A3,194,685.
"He's still getting better, too," Seymour said. "I'm not just saying that; look at him."
"He's never gone better and he keeps stepping up each time in these big races."
"As I've said before, Kay and I have been in the game for more than 50 years waiting for a horse like this. He's a dream come true."
The Blacks A Fake was a win of redemption, too, after Leap To Fame copped a flat tyre and his wheel seized in the home straight when upstaged by his older half-brother, Swayzee, in the race last year.
Leap To Fame has dominantly won all three clashes with Swayzee since.
Swayzee's driver Cam Hart put it best.
"My horse went unbelievable tonight, so it's incredible to think he could be beaten at all, let alone so easy," he said.
"I was so proud of Swayzee, but Leap To Fame was something else."
Trainer-driver Grant Dixon admitted he was in awe of the five-year-old son of Bettors Delight.
"I have been for a while, to be honest," he said. "But tonight, he went to even another level. He was there to be beaten after all that work he did, but he just switched into another gear."
It's quite fitting that last night's race was named after Blacks A Fake, who is also a Queenslander and the modern day pacing benchmark Down Under.
Blacks A Fake won 72 of his 105 starts and an Australasian record $4,575,438.
If Leap To Fame holds his form, he's on target to break Blacks A Fake prize money record early next year.
Leap To Fame has won all three Grand Circuit races he has contested this year – Hunter Cup, Miracle Mile and Blacks A Fake – giving him an unassailable lead on the points table with 300.
Catch A Wave, courtesy of his Fremantle Cup win is second with 101 points from Dont Stop Dreaming (70).
Leap To Fame's half-brother, Swayzee, picked up 60 points for his second in the Blacks A Fake, which gave him a share of fourth place on the points table with Jumpingjackmac and Sooner The Bettor.
