![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Leap-To-Fame-Cranbourne-Cup-Grant-Dixon-blog-Jan-2026__ResizedImageWzYwMCwzNDdd.jpg\")
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By Adam Hamilton\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you loved what you saw of Leap To Fame at Cambridge last year, he went even better at Cranbourne last night.<\/p>\n
The 63rd win of his 81 start career was his best yet.<\/p>\n
Leap To Fame sat outside, did all the work, lifted when he looked beaten and wore down younger sensation and NZ Cup hero Kingman to win the $150,000 Group 1 Cranbourne Cup (2555m) in track record time.<\/p>\n
The 1min55.1sec took 0.4sec off his Leap To Fame\u2019s own track record.<\/p>\n
But it was the way he did it, in a true Bonecrusher\/Our Waverley Star clash, which turned heads,<\/p>\n
Not to mention he also left another champion and arch-rival Swayzee languishing in his wake.<\/p>\n
Kingman beat Leap To Fame at their first three meetings, but Leap To Fame has stamped his patch winning the past two.<\/p>\n
While he led throughout to beat Kingman in last week\u2019s Ballarat Cup, sitting outside him to win last night was astonishing.<\/p>\n
The win also keeps alive Leap To Fame\u2019s quest to win Victoria\u2019s new $1 million bonus.<\/p>\n
That was the second of four wins he needed to bank the bonus, meaning he only needs to add next Saturday night\u2019s $150,000 Group 1 Kilmore Cup and the $250,000 Group 1 Hunter Cup a week later.<\/p>\n
Even Leap To Fame\u2019s modest trainer-driver Grant Dixon was buzzing after the latest win.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe felt super the whole way tonight, he has for the last two weeks at home and at the races, to be honest ,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cKingman made a real race of it, which was huge after the problems he\u2019d had on the way to the track, but to sit outside him and win was incredible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t actually sure I\u2019d got there on the line until the numbers went up.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrista (Dixon, wife) and I have just been so happy with how he\u2019s been handling the racing. He\u2019s been pulling up and eating so well after the runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s showing it in his performances; he\u2019s really standing up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dixon confirmed Leap To Fame would back-up at Kilmore next Saturday to continue to chase the $1 million bonus.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we came down here early and, as I\u2019ve said, as long as we can win the bonus, we\u2019ll keep chasing it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easier to do that with him that most horses because he just thrives on the hard racing\/<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a rule, he bounces out of his races and he\u2019s looking for another fight straight away. As long as he\u2019s the same in the next day or so, he\u2019ll be at Kilmore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kingman\u2019s fighting second was more meritorious considering the drama he endured on the way from Shepparton to Cranbourne.<\/p>\n
Caretaker trainer Nathan Jack\u2019s float had issues and they were stranded on the side of the road for more than two hours before getting alternate transport to the track.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Keayang-Zahara-Cranbourne-Jan-2026-blog__ResizedImageWzYwMCwzNDdd.jpg\")
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Champion trotting mare Keayang Zahara added to the greatest night of harness racing Cranbourne has hosted when she topped the $1 million winning her 12th Group 1 in the $75,000 Cranbourne Trotters\u2019 Cup.<\/p>\n
It was her 23rd win from 24 starts and means she only has to add the $250,000 Group 1 Great Southern Star at Melton on February 14 to win the new $500,000 trotting bonus.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Captains-Mistress-blog-Cranbourne-Jan-2026__ResizedImageWzYwMCwzNDdd.jpg\")
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Champion driver Cam Hart is mesmerized by former star Kiwi filly Captains Mistress.<\/p>\n
The four-year-old staked her claim for the tag as Australia\u2019s best mare when she destroyed a hot field in the $50,000 Group 3 Angelique at Cranbourne last night.<\/p>\n
Captains Mistress led throughout to win by 18.3m in a scorching 1min53.7sec mile rate for 2080m.<\/p>\n
It took a staggering 1.7sec off the track record and Captains Mistress ran an unheard of 53.1sec last half (splits of 25.9 and 27.2).<\/p>\n
She left champion mare Eye Keep Smiling and another superstar mare, Steno, languishing.<\/p>\n
Hart said: \u201cShe\u2019s the best mare I\u2019ve driven.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWhen she ran a 25 quarter at Menangle I said to Jase (Grimson, trainer) it felt like she could go 24sec. She runs speed so easily.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reclusive owner Mick Boots made a rare trackside appearance for the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat mare Luke has got (Eye Keep Smiling) is a champion and I thought she\u2019d be too good, but this mare proved me wrong so I\u2019ll take that,\u201d Boots said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNathan Williamson picked her out for me as a yearling, so I\u2019ve got him to thank for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Captains Mistress has now won all three Australian starts for Grimson by an remarkable aggregate of 55.1 metres. That\u2019s an average of 18m each win.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019ll be back here (Victoria) in two weeks for the (Group 1) Queen of the Pacific and then Jase is aiming at the Chariots Of Fire,\u201d Hart said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way she\u2019s going, she\u2019ll be very hard to beat in both, including the Chariots, and very few fillies can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about a possible Miracle Mile tilt, Hart added: \u201cLook, the Chariots is a big enough target for now, but I guess if she happened to win that well, then I guess Jase would have a look at a Miracle Mile.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Adam Hamilton\u00a0 If you loved what you saw of Leap To Fame at Cambridge last year, he…\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-262142","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\/262142","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=262142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262142\/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=262142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}