Can the great Leap To Fame win the New Zealand Cup after two recent losses?

by Adam Hamilton

Just when it seemed champion Australian pacer Leap To Fame had nothing left  to prove, suddenly he does.

The decision to take him across to tackle the iconic $1 million IRT New Zealand Cup for the first time is as fascinating as it is exciting.

After missing last year’s NZ Cup with an untimely throat infection, going across this year was always in the cards.

It became a lock earlier this year when Leap To Fame successfully and superbly handled his first trip to New Zealand with a dominant and career-best win in the $1 million Race by betcha at Cambridge.

Even back then in April, he was into $1.50 (for a $1 bet) to win the NZ Cup.

Leap To Fame returned from that New Zealand trip to win his next six starts in Australia, including a clean sweep through two heats and the final of the Brisbane Inter Dominion series in July.

Even the Kiwis were starting to think they were running for minor money.

But the past couple of months, especially recent weeks, has changed things.

For just the third time in his career, Leap To Fame, now a rising 7-year-old, was beaten twice in a row.

There was the shocking loss after leading and getting a cozy run in the lead in the Smoken Up Sprint on Oct. 11.

By his lofty standards, Leap To Fame then just labored into a well-held third, behind the exciting and emerging 4-year-old Kingman in the Group 1 Victoria Cup a week later.

It’s the first time since his immature 2-year-old days when another horse went at least as good or better than Leap To Fame and beat him.

Was Kingman great or Leap To Fame disappointing?

The answer is probably a bit of both.

In the moments after that Victoria Cup, trainer Grant Dixon hinted the New Zealand Cup trip could be off.

But the champ pleased him in the ensuing days and he ran him for a third consecutive week at Melton on Oct. 25 and Leap To Fame was better.

Although he didn’t beat a great field and the times were comfortable, it was more about what Dixon, who knows him better than anyone else, thought about him.

The champ got a tick. Then, when he came through the race well, the New Zealand trip was confirmed.

Leap To Fame arrived in Christchurch early Tuesday (Nov. 4)— a week out from the Cup, which will be contested on Nov. 11 — but without the aura of invincibility he oozed when he left Cambridge six months ago.

Those two defeats, the emergence of Kingman, and significant improvement of Republican Party, now clearly New Zealand’s best pacer, are the reasons why.

Just a few months ago, every likely Cup rival — except the great Aussie stayer Swayzee — would have surrendered the lead to Leap To Fame if challenged, especially in a grueling 3,200-meter race like the NZ Cup.

Despite Swayzee missing the race with an untimely health setback, and the chance at a record-equaling third successive New Zealand Cup win, others have stepped in to argue the toss and make a stand if Leap To Fame comes hunting for the lead.

Kingman’s trainer/driver Luke McCarthy and Republican Party’s trainer Cran Dalgety are both talking tough.

“We’ve beaten Swayzee and Leap To Fame at our past two starts and they’ve been the benchmark for a long time,” McCarthy said. “Maybe Leap To Fame wasn’t at his absolute best in the Victoria Cup and he’s an absolute champion, but Kingman went incredibly well that night and I think he’s improved since.

“This is a young horse [4-year-old] really in the zone and still getting better.

“I’ve got huge respect for Leap To Fame, he’s one of the best we’ve seen, but I’m not afraid of him, especially given the improvement my horse keeps showing.”

It’s a similar vibe when you talk to Dalgety.

“We’ve been on about a two-year process developing this horse and giving him the chance to take the next step and that’s exactly what he’s done this campaign,” he said. “Back in the Hunter Cup [February this year] we were happy to sit on those big guns, Swayzee and Leap To Fame, but we’ve got a better horse now and it’s time to drive him to really go for the win, rather than a softer run to try and run second or third.

“If we can get to the front before Leap To Fame, I’ll be telling [my driver/son] Carter [Dalgety] to hold it. We’ve seen a few times now, in the Hunter Cup and Victoria Cup, when Leap To Fame has got to do all the work.

“If we hand over, we’re helping his cause more than ours.”

Champion Kiwi trainers Barry and Mark Purdon also believe they have their main Cup hopefuls peaking at the right time.

Barry, who trains in partnership with Scott Phelan, was thrilled with Merlin’s Kaikoura Cup last Monday.

“I think we’ve timed it well,” Barry said. “I couldn’t have been more thrilled with his Kaikoura win and he’s come through it well.

“It was important to draw well and we have, inside the main dangers. We’ll need to be right up there on the speed, because I’m sure the other big guns will be.”

Barry has won three NZ Cups, but had to settle for a string of minor placings since his last win with the great Chokin way back in 1993.

Along with Merlin, Barry has Sooner The Bettor and Better Knuckle Up in Tuesday’s Cup.

“Sooner The Bettor went well at Kaikoura and isn’t without a chance, while Better Knuckle Up has the talent, but will be better for the experience,” he said.

Mark has trained a remarkable eight NZ Cup winners and Akuta, who ran second to Swayzee in 2023, is his lone runner this year in partnership with son, Nathan.

Akuta, who was sidelined for more than a year with injury, now has a strong foundation behind him and ran a brave race running second to Merlin at Kaikoura.

Given the past few months, this shapes up as one of Leap To Fame’s biggest challenges and defining moments.

The champ has already earned his status as one of the greats of all time.

But if he can cast aside the events of the past month and fend off genuine challenges from Kingman and Republican Party, it will be quite a statement.

Especially on a stage like a packed Addington with a crowd of almost 25,000 in such an iconic race.

There have been so many amazing chapters through the history of the New Zealand Cup, first run in 1904.

This one has all the makings of being up with any of them.