Leap To Fame winning the 2025 Newcastle Mile Photo by HRNSW
AUSTRALIA’S most decorated driver Chris Alford is firmly in the Leap To Fame corner for Saturday night’s stellar $1 million Miracle Mile at Menangle.
Alford will be at Menangle to drive Aldebaran Zeus in the Group 1 Hammerhead Trotters’ Mile, but will watch from the grandstand like so many others when the pacing stars do battle in the Miracle Mile.
Asked who he would love to drive, Alford didn’t hesitate to say Leap To Fame.
“No doubt, absolutely Leap To Fame,” he said.
“When you first look at the draw, starting from seven looks daunting, but Swayzee starting from the pole and Tact McLeod being drawn directly inside Leap To Fame are key things.
“The first thing Grant will and has to do is get out of the gate as quickly as he can and stay with Tact McLeod when Ants (driver Anthony Butt) burns him out from six, then the rest can fall into place.
“I think Tact McLeod can cross them all the way he got out last week and Ants really have no other option but to try and do that to have any real chance.
“If Leap To Fame goes across with Tact McLeod, he will be the first to him and you know Ants would love nothing more than to take a sit on Leap To Fame.
“Maybe I’m making it sound simple, but that’s how I see it.”
Alford, who won his only Miracle Mile on the great Lennytheshark in 2017, said barrier one made it very tricky for Cam Hart to get Swayzee into a winning position.
“The two times Swayzee has beaten Leap To Fame, he’s been in front of him leading and dictating the terms,” he said.
“I just can see how that possibly happens this week. Even if Cam’s good enough to get one-off the fence quickly, he’s then got to get three-wide quickly enough to get in front of Leap To Fame. It’s a huge ask.
“And if Leap To Fame’s in front of Swayzee, then that takes him a long way towards winning the race”
Alford was impressed with Inter Dominion winner Don Hugo’s qualifying win last week.
“He’s closing the gap on the big guns,” he said. “To sit parked and go that sort of time covering extra ground is a huge performance.
“I know he’s drawn well, but I’ll be surprised if Luke (McCarthy, driver) would want Don Hugo getting into a real speed burn with Tact McLeod early.
“He’s come a long way and he might be a bigger danger to Leap To Fame than Swayzee is the way the barriers have landed.”
Alford also has respect for Catch A Wave and Captain Ravishing after their big respective runs for second placings last week.
“Catch A Wave seems to love it in big races away from home (Victoria) and his run was huge last week, but he’ll almost certainly be back last from the outside draw and it’s just hard to win big races from there anywhere, especially mile races at Menangle,” he said.
“You had to like the way Captain Ravishing sprinted home last week, too, but he’ll need to be driven quietly with a sit and improve again on that in a field this strong.”
PHOTO: HRNSW/Pacepix
