CHAMPION pacer Leap To Fame (Gambler’s delight) is going to New Zealand today at the top of his game.
Owner Kevin Seymour said he and trainer-driver Grant Dixon would not chase the iconic $NZ1 million NZ Cup on November 11 unless they felt they had the “best version” of Leap To Fame.
“I think we’ve shown before that if we have any doubt, we’ll just pull the pin,” he said. “We did it last year and we’ve done it with other races as well.
“Of course, there have been some ups and downs in Melbourne on this journey, but Grant is very happy with him now.
“That’s why we gave him that third run a week or so ago. It really was a line in the dirt race.”
“Grant and Trista (Dixon, Grant’s wife) know this horse better than anyone, so it was more how Grant felt in the last race and how he got through it.
“There’s no doubt he was a bit out of his depth in the first two (Melton) runs, but Grant said he felt a different horse last time.
“He doesn’t owe us anything. The excitement he has given us and the great victories he has achieved are fantastic. We wouldn’t take him unless we were absolutely sure he was at his top.”
“That is even more the case in a tough race like the NZ Cup, over 3200 meters and against the best of the best.”
Seymour said uncertainty and concern had now turned to excitement.
“Yes, now that he’s going and Grant is so happy, we can get excited to be part of one of the best races in the world,” he said.
“For all his great victories in Inter Dominions, a Miracle Mile and a Hunter Cup… and even that big win in Cambridge earlier this year, there is just something very special about an NZ Cup.
“It would certainly be on par with everything, maybe even better, given the build-up and the stage the race is in.”
Australians will find it hard to believe, but the NZ Cup is the biggest race of any code in NZ and 25,000 fans will pack Addington to watch the Aussie champion.
Leap To Fame was only $1.40, but is now down to $2.
His task has been made slightly easier by the absence of his older half-brother, Swayzee, winner of the past two NZ Cups.
Swayzee’s interrupted campaign came to an end when he was withdrawn from a crucial lead-up race at Menangle last night due to a cold.
Only Leap To Fame remains and rising star Kingman, who twice trailed Leap To Fame in the Group 1 Victoria Cup, begins to raise the Australian flag.
Kingman, who came through a crucial standing start test in fine style at Menangle last Wednesday, will arrive in Christchurch just hours before the Cup.
“That’s how I want it,” said trainer-driver Luke McCarthy. “Swayzee did it and won last year. The flight leaves Sydney next Sunday morning, has a stopover in Auckland and then we’ll be in Christchurch early Monday.”
“I’d like to be as close to the race as possible. He’s in the zone, still improving and has beaten Leap To Fame and Swayzee in his past two starts.”
Kingman is the second favorite at $4, followed by the Kiwis’ best, the Republican Party, at $5.
Through Adam Hamilton for Harness Racing Australia
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