by Adam Hamilton

It must be one of the most audacious feature race plans of all time.

First came the shocking late change of mind from trainer Jason Grimson to pay a $28,000 late entry fee so Swayzee could defend his crown in Tuesday’s $1 million New Zealand Cup at the Addington track in Christchurch.

Grimson had previously repeatedly ruled out taking Swayzee back to NZ from his Menangle base near Sydney.

But uncertainty over plans with Down Under’s champion pacer Leap To Fame — Swayzee’s half-brother and arch-rival — renewed Grimson’s interest in the race.

Now comes the remarkable part.

Swayzee will race at Young in country New South Wales tonight. It’s a seven-hour round trip from Grimson’s Menangle stables.

The 6-year-old will get back home in the early hours of Saturday morning and then board a flight from Sydney to Auckland on Sunday.

But that’s the first leg.

Once Swayzee arrives in Auckland, NZ’s North Island, he has to go through quarantine and spend a few hours on the tarmac before another flight from Auckland to Christchurch.

All going well, Swayzee will arrive in Christchurch the day before the New Zealand Cup.

And he will contest the New Zealand Cup less than four days after he has raced in a different country in the Cherry City Cup at Young.

So, given the late focus on NZ, why will he still race at Young you might ask? It’s a fair question given the Young race is worth just $60,000.

But there is a bigger payday at play.

Swayzee won the first of five legs of the New South Wales Carnival of Cups at Parkes in September.

Young is the second leg and there is a $1 million bonus should he win all five legs.

Effectively, skipping Young would “kill” the bonus. Albeit there is still a $500,000 bonus for winning four of the five legs.

Grimson and owner Mick Boots want to keep the $1 million bonus alive and, looking at Swayzee’s rivals at Young, he should beat them without raising a sweat.

This New Zealand Cup is more than just a two-horse race, as young Kiwi stars Merlin and Dont Stop Dreaming are serious horses, but Leap To Fame and Swayzee are the headline acts, the proven elite race performers.

And they are the story of the race.

Their rivalry started 16 months ago and runs deep – very deep.

While the horses are somewhat different, their trainers are complete opposites.

Grimson is a confident, brash and polarizing young fella, while Leap To Fame’s trainer/driver Grant Dixon is an old-school “let the horses do the talking” kind of guy.

Grimson fired the first shot in the days before their first clash in last July’s Group 1 Blacks A Fake at Albion Park.

“I’m not afraid of Leap To Fame,” he said after the barrier draw. “I guess we’ll find out who the better brother is.”

Swayzee went on to lead throughout in a stunning time to beat Leap To Fame, but the latter copped a flat tire in the last lap and the tube wrapped round the rim, seizing the wheel for the last 250 meters. To finish second was monstrous.

Leap To Fame then gained revenge on an even bigger stage when he won last December’s Inter Dominion final at Albion Park. Swayzee was a brave third after sitting parked.

They’ve met twice since and Leap To Fame has taken a 3-to-1 advantage, most recently in their Blacks A Fake reunion at Albion Park on July 27.

Leap To Fame was $1.20 (for a $1 bet) to make it 4-to-1 in last month’s Group 1 Victoria Cup at Melton, but a race eve virus forced him out of the race.

It’s been a roller coaster ride for connections since.

“We thought that setback probably ended his New Zealand Cup trip, too,” owner Kevin Seymour said. “But he recovered so quickly we raced him at Menangle last Saturday night. He won so well and came through it so well; he seemed right back on track [for NZ].”

Just hours before Leap To Fame was scheduled to board a flight from Sydney to Auckland last Sunday, a precautionary blood test sparked alarm bells.

“His blood was out, not a lot, but enough for us to pull him off the plane and reassess everything,” Seymour said. “Grant [Dixon] couldn’t fault the horse at all, but we’d never take even the slightest risk with him.

“We knew there was another flight [Sydney to Auckland on Nov. 10], so we took another blood from him on Monday.”

That blood test came back all clear, Leap To Fame worked “superbly” that morning and Seymour locked the trip in.

So, all going well with Swayzee at Young and Leap To Fame in his final workout, they will share the flight to Auckland on Sunday.

Despite everything Leap To Fame has achieved, Dixon said the New Zealand Cup was the most daunting yet.

“I believe it’ll be his toughest test yet,” he said. “Beating the Kiwis when they come to Australia is hard enough and this is on their own soil.

“We don’t have a lot of long-distance races in Australia and the Kiwis have traditionally had the wood on us, but it’s levelled out a bit now.

“It’ll still be a super hard race to win. It’s a two-mile race with lots of moves. Only great horses win it. But I’m sure we’ve got the right horse to do the job if he runs up to his best.”