Photo: Ross Stevenson
LEAP To Fame is primed for his title defence at Cambridge.
The champion Queenslander cruised to his 67th win from 86 starts when he scorched a 53.3sec last half over 2138m at Albion Park last night.
It was Leap To Fame’s 44th win from just 50 starts at Albion Park, taking him to outright fifth on list for most wins at “The Creek” behind Destreos (73), Our Overanova (51), Nickys Falcon (47) and Colt Thirty One (44).
Racing Queensland and Albion Park used the night to recognise Leap To Fame’s amazing career so far, most notably his epic second win in the Miracle Mile at Menangle two weeks earlier.
But attention now turns to Cambridge on April 10 for the $1 million The Race by Sport Nation and Leap To Fame’s return to the scene of arguably his greatest performance yet to win the race last year.
“We hadn’t planned on giving him this run, but Grant and Trista said he came through the Sydney trip so well, he needed another run before NZ,” owner Kevin Seymour said.
Last night’s run means Leap To Fame will follow the exact timeline he did to win last year with a lead-up run 13 days before Cambridge.
Also like last year, Seymour confirmed Leap To Fame’s NZ race would be just for one race.
“Yes, he’ll be home straight after it to have a bit of a break and get ready for the (Brisbane) Inter Dominion,” he said.
In contrast, fellow Queenslanders The Janitor and Gus, both trained by Chantal Turpin, are scheduled to arrive in Auckland today (Sunday).
They will run in the pacing and trotting Flying Miles respectively at Cambridge on Thursday night.
“We were keen for both of them to have a look at the track before the big night,” Turpin said.
The Janitor’s last run was a slashing second to Leap To Fame in the Miracle Mile, while Gus made his mark in NZ winning the Group 1 trotting double at Addington during Cup Week.
The other Aussie pacers bound for The Race by Sport Nation are NZ Cup winners Kingman and Swayzee, along with NSW star Captains Knock.
Gus will be joined by Team Lee’s Victorian pair Keayang Zahara and Jilliby Ballerini in the $530,000 TAB Trot, a race Aussies have dominated in its two-year history.
Jilliby Ballerini, who has finished second to Keayang Zahara at their past three clashes, returned to winning form at her final lead-up race in last Friday night’s Terang Trotters’ Cup.
She made light of a 30m back mark to win hard-held by driver Glen Craven, who will also drive her at Cambridge.
Connections opted not to run Keayang Zahara at Terang, instead she will trial at the same track on Tuesday night.
It means she will go into Cambridge with almost four weeks between runs since her sparkling Group 1 Hammerhead Mile win on Miracle Mile night (March 14). - Adam Hamilton
