Leap To Fame - 2024 Blakes A Fake Win Photo by Dan Costello
CHAMPION Aussie pacer Leap To Fame's New Zealand raid is in disarray after a dramatic twist just hours before he was due to fly from Sydney to Auckland.
One of the all-time greats of Australian pacing was $1.70 favourite to win Tuesday week's $NZ1mil NZ Cup before an unsatisfactory blood test saw him pulled off his planned flight today.
Trainer-driver Grant Dixon is now racing time to salvage the trip.
Dixon said he was "almost fully packed and ready to go" when a precautionary blood test yesterday showed Leap To Fame's levels weren't quite right.
"I was surprised, shocked even," Dixon said.
"He'd gone so well at Menangle last Saturday night winning, and everything seemed good this week."
"I just thought I'd take a precautionary blood test from him and Aroda (stablemate) before we took them all that way, but I didn't give it much more than that."
"I couldn't believe it when it came back, and his level was out a bit, and the vet said we'd be better not taking any risk by travelling with him."
"In himself, he seems fine, and if I hadn't done the blood test, he'd have been on that flight."
Dixon said Tuesday was now D-Day.
"They do final field (for the NZ Cup) on Wednesday and I don't want to stuff them around, so I said I'll get another blood done Tuesday and we'll tell them if he's still going across," he said.
"As I said, he seems fine, so I'm hoping whatever it was is gone by Tuesday.
"If the bloods are good Tuesday, there's a flight he can get on next Sunday."
"While it's not how we'd like to do it, we'll still take him."
"I'd say, if the Tuesday bloods are good, I might get one more done next Saturday before we put him on the flight the day after."
The usually unflappable Dixon admitted it had been a "frustrating few weeks."
"I can't complain too much because we've had such a great run with him as far as injury and health goes, but we've had some ups and downs these past few weeks," he said.
"It's a big thing to go over there (NZ) and race, and we're seeing that now."
Leap To Fame's first hiccup came when he was scratched from the Group 1 Victoria Cup as a $1.20 favourite on the eve of the race.
That put his NZ trip in serious doubt, but an impressive Menangle win last Saturday turned things around.
The strong Aussie raid on the iconic NZ Cup Week starts when two of Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars' four stars step out at the picturesque Kaikoura track tomorrow (Monday).
Auckland Cup winner Better Eclipse will tackle the Kaikoura Cup, while One Over All will be in the trotting feature.
They also have champion trotter Just Believe in NZ. He's likely to trial on Wednesday ahead of Tuesday week's $NZ400,0000 Group 1 Dominion Trot at Addington.
