Leap To Fame takes on trainer Jason Grimson’s top trio in stacked Miracle Mile
by Adam Hamilton
For Superman it was Lex Luthor and for champion pacer Leap To Fame it is rival trainer Jason Grimson.
As Leap To Fame prepares to headline the strongest race Down Under harness racing has seen in almost 20 years, his arch nemesis Grimson again looms ominously.
Grimson, the young and brash Australian training sensation, marks perhaps his greatest achievement yet with three of the eight runners — Swayzee, Captains Mistress, and Chase A Dream — in Saturday night’s (March 14) $1 million Miracle Mile at Menangle in Sydney.
Many feel he was robbed not to have half the field when Rakero Rocket, the fastest pacer Down Under for the past seven years, was controversially dumped from the field in favor of New Zealand and Victoria Cup winner Kingman, who tired badly to run ninth in his qualifier last Saturday night (March 7).
But three runners give Grimson his best chance yet of winning the race he most wants, being NSW-born and based at Menangle, the home of the Miracle Mile.
In just four years or so on the Grand Circuit, Grimson has won most other majors, including two Inter Dominions, two Hunter Cups, two New Zealand Cups, a Victoria Cup, a Blacks A Fake, and a Nullarbor.
Most of those have come during Leap To Fame’s rein and three of them against him, all by Swayzee.
While Swayzee is still around and a major force, Grimson’s stock has blossomed.
Many think it’s his recent stable addition, brilliant young mare Captains Mistress, who represents Leap To Fame’s biggest threat on Saturday night.
She hadn’t started racing when Leap To Fame won his first Miracle Mile in 2024. He returned to run a close and brave second to Don Hugo last year.
The market has Leap To Fame $2.30 favorite (for a $1 bet) with Captains Mistress challenging strongly at $2.80. Swayzee is at $10.
That’s because Leap To Fame again reminded everyone of his greatness with his 65th win in his 84th start in a $75,000 Miracle Mile qualifier last Saturday night at Menangle.
In typical style, he was three-wide early before sitting outside the leader throughout and still too strong in a 1:48.6 mile, which equaled his career-best.
Leap To Fame scorched his last half in :53.6 after sitting parked. Let that sink in.
Then, just when it seemed exciting young Kiwi import Chase A Dream would make the most of a much softer run and collar the champ, Leap To Fame lifted and was actually pulling away again on the line.
“He’s always had this amazing will to win and we saw it again,” trainer/driver Grant Dixon said. “He felt great in the run. I was really pleased with how he dug in when the other horse sprinted at him.”
What Dixon is most in awe about is how Leap To Fame has been doing it for four years and is still going as well, if not better, than ever.
His times and the quality of opposition say he’s never raced better.
“For a long time, it was really just him and Swayzee,” he said. “But now there’s so much depth and new horses coming through to challenge him.
“Captains Mistress has been stunning. She’s so exciting and I’ve got huge respect for The Janitor, too. I’ve said for a while he’s the next top pacer in Queensland.
“His [The Janitor’s] run to come from last and wide to win the other night was huge.
“I get asked if I’m excited about having the chance to win another Miracle Mile and of course I am, but for me now it’s as much about enjoying these big races because he’s getting closer to the end [of his racing career].”
Fans should soak it up, too.
Leap To Fame’s swan song could come as early as this quest for a third Inter Dominion crown in Brisbane in July.
A stud career awaits the 7-year-old, who has smashed the
Down Under prize money record with almost $5.5 million so
far.
Despite Leap To Fame’s terrific mile record at Menangle, Dixon admits sprint racing leaves his champ more vulnerable.
“He’s just such a great stayer,” Dixon said. “He might not have the brilliant point-to-point speed of some, but he can hold his top speed so long and the will to win really comes into play in the longer races.
“We only decided late to have another go at the Miracle Mile this time. He’d had five runs in big races in Victoria, but when he got home, he was jumping out of his skin and really made the decision for us.”
Rival driver Cam Hart, who has been aboard Swayzee for his three wins over Leap To Fame, noted something different about him last Saturday night.
“He just looked so sharp and switched-on, more so than I’ve seen him before,” Hart said. “Often Grant really has to drive him along, especially in the shorter races, but he was right on the bit and keen the other night. That’s a great sign for him going into the week.
“He’s the horse we all have to beat again, especially on what I saw the other night. It’s a thrill to race against him and to have been able to beat him a few times.”
Hart, a 27-year-old driving sensation, agrees with Dixon on the depth of talent in this Miracle Mile.
“It’s the strongest racing and best depth we’ve had in my time, say for the last decade at least,” he said.
“As Grant said, it really was just Swayzee and Leap To Fame for about two years. Now you could make a case for every runner in this Miracle Mile having a winning chance.”
Take the defending champion Don Hugo for example. A luckless third in his qualifier and a horror draw have him a longshot at $17.
He will need to create history as the first horse to win from the extreme outside draw (gate 8) to successfully defend his title. Unsurprisingly, Leap To Fame holds the record for the widest barrier, winning from post 7 in 2024.
Don Hugo’s trainer Luke McCarthy also has Kingman in the race, who was the new nemesis to Leap To Fame just a few months back when he beat him in the huge Victoria and New Zealand Cup double.
Some mixed form this year and a mystifying flop when he led and tired for ninth in last week’s qualifier make Kingman the conundrum of the race.
Which Kingman will turn up?
“Luke will turn him around and he’s got a great draw [he will start from 2] to sit just off the speed, get a soft run, and be very dangerous,” Dixon said.
And who can discount the ageless, giant-killing marvel of Aussie pacing, 11-year-old Bulletproof Boy.
He’s a $61 outsider but part of you wonders why when you think he’s caused huge upsets beating Leap To Fame, Kingman, and Rakero Rocket in recent months.
“And he ran the quickest sectional times of his life winning the Newcastle Mile last start,” trainer Scott Ewen said. “Of course, he’s the underdog, he always is, but that’s when he runs best, when everybody has forgotten about him.”
The Miracle Mile has a rich history and has been the most colorful race of the modern era Down Under.
This field has all the ingredients to deliver one of its greatest chapters yet.
MIRACLE MILE BARRIER DRAW
$1 million. 1,609 meters. Menangle, Saturday night.
1. Speak The Truth (AE)
2. Swayzee
3. Kingman
4. Captains Mistress
5. Leap To Fame
6. The Janitor
7. Chase A Dream
8. Bulletproof Boy
9. Rakero Rocket (AE)
10. Don Hugo
