CHAMPION pacer Leap To Fame returns to racing at Albion Park on Saturday night for what could be his only lead-up race ahead of chasing a third Inter Dominion crown in July.
Despite the start of the series still being more than a month away, trainer-driver Grant Dixon said suitable lead up racing options were thin with Leap To Fame.
“Most of the races after this week are standing start handicaps and I don’t think it’s in his best interests to be running off a 30m handicap and having the hard run that would bring with it just before an Inter Dominion, You have to keep your eye on the prize,” he said.
“That’s why this week is important. If we get a strong run into him on Saturday, we can probably get him the rest of the way at home without another race, although I’d prefer one.
“If we can’t find another race, we’ve got the option of a trial closer to the first round of heats (July 4).
“I’m saying the standing-start races are totally out of the question, but I wouldn’t consider them unless he was off anything more than a 20m handicap. It’s hard enough getting around 12 horses with the times they run these days, let alone giving them a huge handicap start, too.”
Leap To Fame hasn’t raced since his mind-blowing and arguably career-best win in the $NZ1 million Race by Sport Nation at Cambridge on April 10.
But the seven-year-old showed he was primed for a return with a sparkling 1min49.8sec 1660m trial win at Albion Park last Tuesday. He ripped home in a stunning 53.2sec last 800m.
“The time was quick, but the track (Albion Park) is so fast, that’s what you need and expect him to run to have a good hit-out,” Dixon said.
“He only had a couple of weeks out after Cambridge, but he freshened up well. He seems as good as ever and it’ll be great to get him back to the races this week.”
Leap To Fame has won 25 of his past 26 starts at Albion Park, dating back to a fourth in the Be Good Johnny Sprint on November 4, 2023. His one defeat came when beaten a whisker by Don Hugo in the Group 1 Blacks A Fake on December 6, last year.
Dixon was taken by the first-up win of Queensland’s other pacing star, The Janitor, at Albion Park last Saturday night.
“He’s always looked like a horse who could go to the top,” he said. “He got close to us in the Blacks A Fake (last December) and the Miracle Mile (March), and he’s going to be one of the hardest for us to beat in the Inter Dominion.
“There’s a bit of depth to the series and I’ll be keeping my eye closely on the Rising Sun winner, too. I can see that being a key race this year.”
Dominant favourite for the Rising Sun is champion four-year-old mare Captains Mistress and victory in that race would get her a golden ticket into the $1 million Inter Dominion final on July 18.
Her trainer Jason Grimson said he “would not hesitate” to accept the golden ticket and take on Leap To Fame again.
They have clashed just once when Leap To Fame won the Miracle Mile on March 14 and Captains Mistress was badly held up in traffic at a crucial stage and finished fifth.
Grimson insists she would have gone close to winning with clear running at the right time.
Captains Mistress is expected to race at Menangle on Saturday night and could go to the $100,000 Group 2 Redcliffe Cup from a standing-start on June 20 as lead-in to the Rising Sun.
