Leaping Away From NZ And Out For A Spell

Leap To Fame ID23 Final Win. Photo by Dan Costello.

CHAMPION pacer Leap To Fame will bypass the lure of two rich slot races to have a spell and prepare for his home Queensland Winter Carnival.

Grant Dixon's mighty five-year-old was into $1.60 favourite for the $NZ1mil Race By Grins at Cambridge on April 12 after his stunning and historic Miracle Mile win at Menangle last Saturday night.

But owner Kevin Seymour revealed today Leap To Fame would go for a break rather than travel to NZ.

"He had an extremely tough run last Saturday night. It was a gruelling mile, and he went flat out," Seymour said. "He was still a bit flat today, so he won't be going to NZ."

"It's all about what's best for the horse and protecting the longevity of his career at the top level. We want to race him on for another couple of years, not be a one-season wonder."

"Grant (Dixon, trainer-driver) and I feel it's best that he has a break now and gets ready for the big Queensland races in winter. If he doesn't have a break now, there's not many other windows to get one for the rest of the year."

Seymour and Dixon feel they have unfinished business at "home" in Queensland after Leap To Fame copped a flat tyre and buckled rim with a massive second to his older half-brother Swayzee in the Group 1 black A Fake last July.

He has since gone on to become just the second horse and the first in 39 years to win the Triple Crown – Inter Dominion, Hunter Cup and Miracle Mile.

Seymour said an NZ trip could still be on the radar, but later in the year.

"We'd have loved to go and chance the Kiwi dollars and we're very keen to have a crack at these slot races, but now's not the time. The horse has and always will come first," he said.

"The NZ Cup (in November) is something Grant and I have spoken about a few times. It's on our Bucket List."

"I'm not going to come out to say it's a target yet, but it's something we will look seriously at."

"For now, it's about giving him a break and seeing how he comes back for the big winter races."

"We'll nominate him for the NZ Cup but probably won't make a final call until after the Victoria Cup in early October."

"It's one thing to have races in mind, but there's always a big element of taking them one at a time, especially with a horse like him."

"We've also got the Inter Dominion in Sydney that we're keen to go to, obviously after he won so well in the Brisbane final late last year."

Leap To Fame moved to eighth spot on the all-time Australasian prize money list with his historic Miracle Mile last Saturday night.

The five-year-old has raced 45 times for 35 wins, eight placings and banked $2,765,957.

·      Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp.