Leap to Fame with Grant & Trista Photo by Stuart McCormick
AUSSIE champ Leap To Fame will head to New Zealand.
Owner Kevin Seymour confirmed a much-anticipated blood test came back all-clear today.
It paves the way for Leap To Fame to board a flight from Sydney to Auckland on Sunday and a connecting flight from Auckland to Christchurch.
The $NZ1mil NZ Cup is at Addington next Tuesday.
"It's a huge weight off our shoulders. It's been a stressful few days," he said.
"The blood test was the missing piece. Grant (Dixon) couldn't fault the horse, but we simply wouldn't travel with him unless his bloods were good."
"They came back at lunchtime, and it was great news. We're full steam ahead again now."
The pleasing blood results capped a big day for Leap To Fame, who worked strongly with fellow NZ-bound stablemate Aroda at Menangle this morning.
"Grant said his work was fantastic. That gave us more confidence the blood tests would be good," Seymour said.
"The horse has just seemed so well in himself, and as Grant said, had he not taken that blood test on Saturday, purely as a precaution, the horse would already have been in NZ."
Aroda will accompany Leap To Fame across, and Dixon hopes he will make the cut for a Cup start.
Australia could have four NZ Cup runners after the connections of last year's winner, Swayzee, paid a $NZ28,000 late entry fee yesterday.
Swayzee will need to be on the same flight as Leap To Fame and Aroda on Sunday.
Victorian Better Eclipse capped his preparation with a fantastic third in yesterday's Kaikoura Cup.
Jess Tubbs' Auckland Cup winner bungled the standing start and did a mighty job to recover, come wide and finish third.
