Leap To Fame winning the 2026 Race by Sport Nation
SOMEHOW the greatest ever is still getting better.
Just a month after his mesmerizing second Miracle Mile win, Leap To Fame went even better to thrash a vintage field by six lengths in tonight’s $NZ1 million Race by Sport Nation at Cambridge.
Owner Kevin Seymour declared it his greatest performance yet.
“If he’s not the GOAT already, he is now,” he said. “Somehow he’s getting better with age.”
Trainer-driver Grant Dixon agreed.
“He beat a better field than last year, did as much work and won by a lot further … you’d have to say it’s his best win,” he said.
“He’s just thriving in every way, with his travel and his racing. It’s quite remarkable.”
It was Leap To Fame’s second Race by Sport Nation win and took his record to 87 starts for 68 wins, 14 seconds and three thirds. He’s smashed the Australasian record with over $6.8 million in prize money.
The dominance of the win moved Seymour to quash speculation seven-year-old Leap To Fame could be retired after he chases a third Inter Dominion crown at Albion Park in July.
“How could we retire him after that?” he said. “It’s a been a dream of Kay (Seymour, wife) and I to win a NZ Cup. He ran second last year and we’d love to come back and try and win it later this year (November).”
As he does most times, Leap To Fame did all the work outside the leader from a wide draw and humbled a hot field.
“He’s racing at least as well as ever. He’s keeping his weight on the best he ever has. He’s absolutely thriving on his travel and racing,” Dixon said.
“Now we’ll get him home, have a bit of a freshen-up and set our sights on the Inter Dominion.”
Local outsider Akuta flashed home for a distant second with Aussie raiders, Swayzee, who was shuffled back after not showing much gate speed, and Captains Knock (leaders back), finishing third and fourth.
It was another Aussie romp at a feature NZ meeting with champion trotting mare Keayang Zahara cruising to victory in the other feature, the $NZ530,000 TAB Trot.
While the win was easy, co-trainer Marg Lee revealed Keayang Zahara was almost scratched from the race two weeks with some “tying-up” issues.
“I wasn’t keen for her to go, but the boys (Paddy and Jason Lee) wanted to wait and give her more time,” she said.
Jason Lee added: “It really came down to how went in that Terang trial last week. When that went well, we decided we would go. She hadn’t quite been herself since winning in Sydney (on March 14).”
Keayang Zahara beat stablemate Jilliby Ballerini and Queensland star Gus in an Aussie trifecta.
It was Keayang Zahara’s biggest win yet and took her record to 28 wins from 29 starts and over $1.6 million in prize money.
PHOTOS: Race Images NZ
