Bulletproof Boy winning the 2025 Smoken Up
GRANT Dixon isn’t panicking.
Harness fans around Australasian were in shock last night when Dixon’s champion pacer Leap To Fame was upset in the Smoken Up Sprint at Melton.
What was supposed to be an easy lead-up win to the Victoria Cup became something very different when remarkable old veteran Bulletproof Boy emerged from three pegs and ran down Leap To Fame in the last two strides.
Dixon offered no excuses, just some theories why his champ didn’t show his best.
“I’m grasping at straws a bit, but he didn’t travel as well as I expected in the run and I knew on the home bend we had a fight on our hands,” he said.
“The Albion Park track is so hard at the moment, while the Melton track has a beautiful cushioning, but maybe it felt different to him?
“Could it have been travelling closer to the race than we have before, only getting in on the Friday morning?
“I really don’t know, but there’s no panic stations here. I’m just glad I ran him instead of going straight into the Victoria Cup.”
Despite the defeat, Leap To Fame only eased from $1.20 to $1.30 for the Victoria Cup.
It rekindled memories of Leap To Fame’s shock defeat by District Attorney at Redcliffe in June, last year.
The champ then hit back immediately to win his next nine starts, including two at Group 1 level.
Leap To Fame has only been beaten three times in 23 starts since Redcliffe.
But last night’s defeat certainly breathes life into this Victoria Cup.
It gives hope and perhaps more daring to connections of key rivals like Kingman, Catch A Wave and Bay Of Biscay.
That hope will soar if Leap To Fame dares poorly in the barrier draw, which is live on Sky Racing at 10am Tuesday (Melbourne time).
Lost in all the understandable hysteria around Leap To Fame’s defeat was the superb performance by trainer Scotty Ewen and his rising 11-year-old, Bulletproof Boy.
To win any race first-up at that age is a big effort, but to gun down Leap To Fame is epic.
PHOTO: Stuart McCormick
