Stuart McCormick
CHAMPION pacer Leap To Fame faces his biggest challenge yet from a nightmare draw in Saturday night’s Group 1 Hunter Cup at Melton.
The defending champion drifted from $1.40 to $2.20 after drawing inside the back row (gate eight), meaning luck as much his enormous talent will play a huge role.
Throw in the fact it’s the strongest batch of rivals he’s faced and it shapes as one of the most intriguing feature races for many years.
“Add the draw to Swayzee’s presence and some smart Kiwis and the race has got very hard all of sudden,” trainer-driver Grant Dixon admitted.
“It’s certainly not the draw I wanted. It’s a bit awkward, but at least it’s a staying race (2760m) and not a sprint.
“It’s added a lot of intrigue and made for a really exciting race because it looks hard on paper for us for sure.”
Dixon will now ponder tactics for the next few days. If he opts to push through behind pole-marker Republican Party he could be stuck on the inside without racing room.
“But snagging right out of the bag to avoid the traffic makes life hard, too. You just settle so far off the leaders,” he said.
Dixon rates Leap To Fame’s older half-brother, Swayzee, winner of the past two NZ Cups at the Victoria Cup at Melton last October, as the hardest to beat. He is a clear $4.20 second favourite.
Swayzee famously upset Leap To Fame in the 2023 Group 1 Blacks A Fake in Brisbane, but Leap To Fame has emphatically won their three clashes since.
“He’s a great stayer, Swayzee, and although he’s drawn out the back (gate 11), it’s a better draw than we have. He’s always the hardest to beat,” he said.
“But there’s a lot of depth to this race. There’s horses coming through the ranks.
“The Kiwis are nice horses. I really like Republican Party’s run last week (third to Leap To Fame). I’m not sure many horses could’ve done the work he did and still hang on for third and he’s got a great draw (gate one).”
On the upside, Dixon is thrilled with Leap To Fame’s preparation, which was capped by a Melton win last Saturday.
“I’m really pleased we decided to give him that extra run last week,” he said. “It’s definitely brought him on again. I couldn’t be happier with where he’s at, but we’re going to need a pinch or luck or more now from the draw.”
Along with Republican Party from one, the other big winners from the barrier draw were fellow Kiwi pacer Tact McLeod (two) and last month’s Inter Dominion winner Don Hugo (four).
In contrast, another Kiwi raider Dont Stop Dreaming, who ran second to Leap To Fame, drew awfully outside the front row in gate seven, while classy NSW pair Captains Knock (10) and Max Delight (13) also fared poorly.
Saturday night’s card also boasts the unique Great Southern Star for trotters, which consists of two heats early in the night into a final two hours later.
Newly-crowned Inter Dominion trotting winner The Locomotive dominates betting at $1.50 from gate one in the first heat, while in-form local Keayang Chucky is a $1.60 favourite despite starting from barrier 10 in heat two.
