By Adam Hamilton\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only something unexpected can now derail Leap To Fame\u2019s first IRT NZ Cup raid.<\/p>\n
The champion Queenslander resurrected his on-again, off-again NZ with a dominant return to winning form at Melton last night.<\/p>\n
Facing a third consecutive defeat for the first time in his stellar 73-start career, Leap To Fame delighted trainer-driver Grant Dixon with a easy win over Bulletproof Boy, the veteran who upstaged him two starts back.<\/p>\n
He worked across the field from the outside draw to take the lead from Bulletproof Boy and never looked in danger, cruising to a 9.4m win in a slick 1min52.6sec mile rate for 2240m, just 1.5sec outside the track record.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t be happier,\u201d Dixon said. \u201cHe felt sharper and did it easily. He did what we needed him to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you take a line through Bulletproof Boy, who came from a couple of lengths off him and beat him two runs back, this time he sat on his back and we pulled away from him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really got him up and running before the quarter (last 400m) so nothing could out-dash him. He did it well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just as importantly, Leap To Fame came through the win well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the next step and he seems great this morning. He\u2019s better this morning than he has been after those past couple of runs,\u201d Dixon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this stage, it\u2019s full steam ahead (for NZ).\u201d<\/p>\n
Leap To Fame\u2019s scheduled flight from Melbourne to Christchurch, via Auckland, has been brought forward from November 5 to November 3.<\/p>\n
Owner Kevin Seymour floated the possibility of racing the six-year-old again next Saturday night at Melton, but Dixon said that was unlikely.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the flight had been on the Wednesday (November 5), then we\u2019d probably have done it, but now it\u2019s Monday, we don\u2019t like racing him so close to a flight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dixon also ruled out a trial for Leap To Fame in NZ before the iconic $NZ1 million NZ Cup at Addington on November 11.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know there\u2019s the (NZ) Cup trial six days out from the racing, but he\u2019ll only get to Christchurch 24 hours before the trial and it\u2019s too close to travelling to give him a hit out like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s had a good foundation now. He\u2019s fit and that\u2019s the sort of run we needed from him to push ahead with the trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great race and a tough race over two miles (3200m). He needed to show he\u2019s right at his top for us to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
This will be Leap To Fame\u2019s first crack at the NZ Cup, which his older half-brother, Swayzee, has won the past two years.<\/p>\n
His only trip to NZ delivered a career-best win in the $NZ1mil Race by betcha at Cambridge on April 4.<\/p>\n
Swayzee looks set to accompany Leap To Fame to the Cup, providing he pleases trainer Jason Grimson in a free-for-all at Menangle next Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Emerging star Kingman could give Australia a third Cup runner if he handles a standing-start well for the first time in a trial at Menangle on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what it comes down to. He\u2019s never raced or trialled from a stand. If he steps well, we\u2019ll head across,\u201d trainer-driver Luke McCarthy said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Adam Hamilton\u00a0 Only something unexpected can now derail Leap To Fame\u2019s first IRT NZ Cup raid. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-102333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}