Leap to Fame with Grant & Trista Photo by Stuart McCormick
LEAP To Fame has already rewritten the record books and there is lots more to come.
No horse has put together the string of major wins Leap To Fame has in the past eight months, and he still seemingly has three of the sport's biggest races at his mercy in the back half of 2024.
The five-year-old's next major target is a trip to Melbourne for the $300,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup – widely regarded as the Cox Plate of harness racing, at Melton on October 12.
"He'll have a quiet week or two, but then it's time to wind him right up again," trainer-driver Grant Dixon said.
"He was beaten in last year's Victoria Cup (a close third), but it's because it was my fault. I didn't have the preparation behind him you need for a big race like that. He'd have kept going if I did."
"I won't make the same mistake. He'll be back racing in mid-September, so we can have him screwed right down for the Victoria Cup."
Then comes something new, Leap To Fame's first trip outside of Australia's one of the world's most iconic harness events, the $NZ1mil New Zealand Cup at Addington in Christchurch on November 12.
It's been so hard for Australians to win. Just two Aussie-trained pacers since 1987 have crossed the ditch and won, Arden Rooney in 2015 and Swayzee last year.
"We're keen to go," Dixon said. "If he's well at the time and we can sort the right travel to and from NZ, then it would be fantastic to run him in it."
"I think it's the pinnacle of harness racing in this part of the world. I've never actually been to (NZ) Cup Day, let alone taken a horse, but like so many others, I've watched and heard what an incredible race day it is. It looks amazing."
Just 17 days after the NZ Cup, Leap To Fame will be back in Australia to start defending the Inter Dominion crown he won at Albion Park last December. The first of three rounds of Inter Dominion qualifying heats will be held at Newcastle on November 29.
His last race for 2024 will be the $500,000 Inter Dominion final at Menangle on December 14.
Leap To Fame's phenomenal last 12 months have justifiably sparked comparisons with Australasia's all-time greatest pacers like Popular Alm, Preux Chevalier in the 1980s and, more recently Blacks A Fake in the 2000s and Lazarus at his peak in 2017/18.
On performance alone, Leap To Fame has outdone them all.
He is the only pacer to be the titleholder of Inter Dominion, Miracle Mile, Hunter Cup and Blacks A Fake at the same time.
Blacks A Fake held three of the titles, as did Preux Chevalier and Popular Alm.
And Leap To Fame's winning strike rate trumps them all. He's won 41 of 52 starts at 82.4 per cent, compared to: Popular Alm (49 of 62 at 79 per cent); Preux Chevalier (40 of 53 at 75.5 per cent); Lazarus (37 of 51 at 72.5 per cent) and Blacks A Fake (72 of 105 at 68.6 per cent).
Dixon agreed Leap To Fame's win in last Saturday night's Group 1 Blacks A Fake at Albion Park was his best yet.
"He's getting better as in becoming a better racehorse. That's where he's improved with all a year of racing in the best races," he said.
"He was pretty amazing the other night and still felt strong on the line; he wasn't all-out."
"When you combine that with how well he comes through the races, he's right at the peak of his powers now."
