In 2024, the great trotter Just Believe won the TAB Trot in Cambridge, on his way to winning the Australian Trotter of the Year for the second time.
Last year the bar was raised again.
Leap To Fame and Arcee Phoenix went to Cambridge and brilliantly won the Race by betcha and TAB Trot respectively.
Today they were crowned Australian Horse of the Year (Leap To Fame) and Australian Trotter of the Year (Arcee Phoenix).
Arcee Phoenix won the TAB Trot in Cambridge and the 2025 Inter Dominion Finals, earning over $1 million in earnings.
Leap To Fame won the title for the third time, which is a record.
It marked another big year for the Grant Dixon-trained pacer, who also became the first pacer in this part of the world to win more than $5 million in prize money and win a third Australian Grand Circuit championship title.
Leap To Fame joined former champions King Of Swing (2020, 21 & 22), Im Themightyquinn (2011, 12 & 13), Blacks A Fake (2007, 08 & 2010), Our Sir Vancelot (1997, 98 & 99) and Westburn Grant (1989, 91 & 92) as the only three-time Horse of the Year winners.
“It’s a tremendous honor and a measure of his greatness,” said owner Kevin Seymour. “As I’ve said before, he is the horse Kay (Seymour) dreamed of after more than 50 years in the game.
“He has won so many of the biggest races and broken record after record, this is another big thing on his CV considering the caliber of horses he is competing with.”
Last season was Leap To Fame’s richest yet with earnings of $1,758,424 from 22 starts, 16 wins, five seconds and a third.
His biggest victory came with his second Inter Dominion crown at Albion Park on July 19.
Leap To Fame also traveled to New Zealand for the first time and scored one of the best and most dominant wins of his career in the $NZ1 million Race by betcha in Cambridge last April.
He returned to NZ on November 11 for a fantastic second-place finish in the iconic NZ Cup and won the Group 1 NZ free-for-all three days later.
Leap To Fame also achieved typically courageous placings in the Hunter Cup, Miracle Mile, Victoria Cup and Blacks A Fake last season.
Incredibly, in his career of 83 starts, he has only missed out on a place twice, finishing fourth both times.
Now seven years old, Leap To Fame has made an excellent start to this season with six starts and four wins, including the Kilmore and Cranbourne Cups at Group 1 level, and two placings. His last start was a close second to older half-brother Swayzee in the Hunter Cup on February 14.
His next big target is a trip to Cambridge in April to defend his racing title, before clinching a third Inter Dominion crown at Albion Park in July.
Leap To Fame exploits headlined another Australian training premiership-winning season for Grant Dixon. Amazingly, it was Dixon’s 10th national title.
Through Adam Hamiltonfor Harness Racing New Zealand
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