Leap To Fame after winning the 2026 Race by Sport Nation
EVEN Grant Dixon is surprised how amazing his champion pacer Leap To Fame feels as he prepares for a return to racing aimed at a third Inter Dominion crown.
Despite being deep into his seven-year-old season and a veteran of 87 starts (for an incredible 68 wins), Dixon insists Leap To Fame is “at least as good as ever.”
“He’s just an amazing horse, what more can I say” he said. “He only had two weeks off after the trip to Cambridge (NZ) and that’s all he needed. He’s freshened up beautifully.
“He’s an older horse now and doesn’t need a spell. It would be harder to get the weight back off him, if he had a long break.
“The biggest change this year has been how well he’s handled the racing and especially all the travel that’s gone with it. He’s coming through the races well and holding his weight better than ever.”
Leap To Fame will head to the races after trialling at Albion Park today (Tuesday).
“He’s quite forward. The trial is just to get some speed back into his legs before a race,” Dixon said.
“We’d love to get a couple of races into him before the first round of (Inter Dominion) heats (July 4), but whether that’s possible is the question.
“There’s a lot of standing-start handicaps programmed instead of free-for-alls (mobile starts) in coming weeks and he’d be given too big a handicap in big fields to want to race in those.
“It could be he just has the one lead-up race and we give him another trial to top him off.”
Leap To Fame has already raced 10 times this year for eight wins and two seconds.
He won his second Miracle Mile at Menangle on March 14 and also a second $1 million Race by Sport Nation at Cambridge in devastating fashion at his most recent start on April 10.
After that win, owner Kevin Seymour thrilled fans by confirming Leap To Fame would race on for another year rather than retire to stud after July’s Brisbane Inter Dominion.
Seymour is desperate to win the iconic NZ Cup at Addington in November, the only “mega” race to have eluded Leap To Fame so far. He ran second to Kingman at his only attempt last year.
“I know Kevin is keen to have another go at NZ, but when you get to this stage of their careers you really have to go one big target at a time,” Dixon said.
“He seems great and if he’s like this after the Inter Dominion, then setting for NZ would be great.”
Leap To Fame won his first Inter Dominion final at Albion Park in 2023, missed the 2024 Sydney series with a health setback and returned to win a second title at Albion Park last year.
Despite being in the twilight of his career, Leap To Fame is a commanding $1.70 pre-post favourite for this year’s $1 million pacing final at Albion Park on July 18.
Leap To Fame is aiming to become just the fourth pacer to win at least three Inter Dominion finals.
Blacks A Fake holds the record with four wins (2006, ’07, ’08 and 2010), while Our Sir Vancelot (1997, ’98 and ’99) and Im Themightyquinn (2011, ’12 and ’13) are the others.
· Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp.
PHOTOS: HRNZ/Race Images NZ
