By Adam Hamilton
Champion Aussie pacer Leap To Fame will go into the IRT NZ Trotting Cup sight unseen this trip.
After much deliberation, trainer-driver Grant Dixon has locked in travel plans which will see the six-year-old arrive in Christchurch just five days before the $1 million feature at Addington on Tuesday, November 11.
“He’ll be on a flight Wednesday (November 5) from Melbourne which I’m told then gets him into Christchurch on Thursday morning,” he said.
It ends speculation about a possible lead-up race or at least an appearance in the traditional Cup Day trial the week before the Cup.
At best, Leap To Fame could pop into Addington for a workout on the Saturday before the Cup.
The later flight to NZ is a win for Victorian fans, who will now get to see Leap To Fame race three times at Melton over the next month.
It starts with a surprise, earlier-than-expected appearance in Saturday night’s Smoken Up Sprint where he will clash with TAB Eureka winner Bay Of Biscay for the first time.
It means Leap To Fame will be having his third start in as many weeks when he tackles the $250,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup on Saturday week.
As sharp as Leap To Fame looked winning first-up at Albion Park last Saturday night, Dixon said another race this week would only help.
“He’s booked on a flight (from Brisbane) to Melbourne in the middle of the night Thursday (night), so will be there early Friday morning,” he said.
“He won well and did it easily last Saturday (at Albion Park), but another run will just sharpen-up that it more again.
“It’s as much about how well he thrives on racing. Going into the biggest races, he seems to love racing each week, so we’ll do that again.”
Perhaps Dixon is also mindful Leap To Fame’s only defeat in a Victoria Cup came back in 2023 when he had raced just once in the seven weeks leading into it.
Beyond the Victoria Cup, Dixon has two other Melton race options for Leap To Fame before the flight to NZ.
“Given it’s more than three weeks between the Victoria Cup and NZ (Cup), I’ll look to give him another race at Melton to keep him up to the mark, especially with NZ being over two miles (3200m).”
Those options are a 2240m free-for-all at Melton on October 25 or a 1720m free-for-all on November 1.
The timing of the 1720m race would seem better given racing again on October 25 would mean four runs in as many weeks for Leap To Fame.
