His main concern was if Leap To Fame didn’t recover quickly and missed not only crucial work, but more lead-up racing, with the 3200m of the New Zealand Cup often the most taxing harness race in Australasia.
Dixon’s worries have disappeared, though, and Leap To Fame is set to race at Menangle in Sydney this week and then head to New Zealand.
“He recovered pretty quickly and was able to work really well [on Sunday],” said Dixon.
“Being around him all the time, his personality and attitude is back to normal, so you’d never know he had an issue. So we’re good to go and the intention is to come to New Zealand after this week.”
Leap To Fame will start in a 2300m mobile on Saturday against horses he should beat, as Victoria Cup winner and New Zealand Cup defending champion Swayzee will not be there.
Swayzee is not returning to Addington to defend his title.
“If he races as I expect him to this Saturday, then he’ll stay here in Sydney and keep ticking over until the following weekend, then fly to Auckland and down on to Christchurch.”
Dixon will then have an early treat for New Zealand harness racing fans, with Leap To Fame to contest the official Cup trial at Addington on November 6.
“I want to give him a look at the track and another go from behind the tapes,” he said in reference to Leap To Fame getting standing start practice.
Saturday’s race and that trial will give punters with any queries over Leap To Fame’s readiness for the Cup two chances to assess how close he is to his daunting peak and how he may handle the unusual pressures of New Zealand Cup day.
His recent ups and downs have played havoc with the market for our biggest harness race, with Leap To Fame getting out to $2.50 equal favouritism with Merlin when news of his virus first broke.
He is now back into $1.75, with Merlin back out to $4.50 and Don’t Stop Dreaming at $5.50. Those two leading local chances for the Cup will clash in the Flying Stakes at Ashburton on Monday.
Leap To Fame will headline the strongest Australian assault on a major New Zealand racing carnival of any code since 1983, when Popular Alm, Gammalite and Scotch Notch led a team of superstars at the Inter Dominions in Auckland, the Aussies winning both finals.
The 2011 Inter Dominion pacing team from Australia was also freakish but lacked the trotting firepower.
The Australians could dominate Addington, as not only will Leap To Fame likely have Auckland Cup winner Better Eclipse as a compatriot in the Cup, but champion trotter Just Believe is returning for the Dominion and a $100,000 Free-For-All on Show Day.
They could be joined by an array of open class horses of both gaits from the powerful Jason Grimson and Andy Gath stables, while 3-year-old trotter Keayang Zahara is coming for the first running of the $500,000 Ascent slot race on November 15.
She has looked freakish in Australia and could stay for the NZ Trotting Oaks and Derby, as Australian horses dominate the markets for multiple Group 1s like never before.
NZ Trotting Cup day
What: New Zealand’s most iconic harness race.
Where: Addington, Christchurch.
When: November 12.
How much: $1 million.
Who: The best pacers in Australasia led by Aussie champion Leap To Fame.
Bonus: The $400,000 Renwick Farms Dominion for trotters has also moved to Cup Day.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
