Path To Greatness
A STELLAR batch of three-year-olds are chasing history in tomorrow night’s $300,000 Group 1 Rising Sun at Albion Park.
As the exciting new race – restricted to just three and four-year-old pacers - heads into its fifth running, no three-year-old has yet been able to win it.
And that includes the great Leap To Fame, who was the first three-year-old to be placed in the Rising Sun when third to former champion mare Ladies In Red in 2022.
Leap To Fame returned at four a year later to win the Rising Sun with the only other three-year-old to finish top three in the race, Rocknroll Hammer, finishing second to him in 2023.
Tomorrow night a record four three-year-olds will tackle the Group 1 feature and what an exciting and talented bunch they are.
Grant and Trista Dixon’s pair Path To Greatness (gate one) and Fate Awaits (eight, inside back row) – both already feature race winners – are drawn perfectly to be major players.
Young Kiwi star Rubira, trained by Kiwi Hall of Famer Mark Purdon and his son, Nathan, beat Dixon’s pair in last week’s Redcliffe Derby and will get his chance from barrier three.
Nestled in between them is the freakishly fast Luke McCarthy-trained three-year-old Hesitate, who smashed the clock for his last 800m winning at Albion Park last Saturday week. He’s looked terrific winning both starts this campaign.
Grant Dixon, who will drive Path To Greatness, expects the three-year-olds to be a huge force.
“If a three-year-old is going to win it, I think this is the year,” he said. “The four-year-olds are good, but there is no standout and this looks like a really strong crop of three-year-olds. I think they hold the key to the race.”
Dixon wants Path To Greatness to hold the lead from gate one.
“He led and won The Hayden really well two starts back and simply couldn’t get into the race at Redcliffe last week,” he said. “I think he’s got the speed to lead and he’ll get his chance in front.
“It’s great to have them both drawn to be on the rails, it’s the best place to be in these big races at Albion Park.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for the other two (three-year-olds) as well, Rubira and Hesitate.”
PHOTO: Dan Costello
