Tony Licastro hopes to come up big again against Leap To Fame
by Adam Hamilton
Tony Licastro is up for the challenge.
Beating the amazing Leap To Fame, arguably Down Under’s greatest ever pacer, is hard enough, but doing it on his home deck at Albion Park is almost impossible.
Leap To Fame has won 27 of his past 28 starts at Albion Park, dating back to Nov. 4, 2023.
And he was beaten a whisker in the other when second in the Group 1 Blacks A Fake on Dec. 6, last year.
But it was Licastro’s star pacer, Don Hugo, who beat him.
And not for the first time.
Don Hugo also upstaged Leap To Fame in the $1 million Miracle Mile back in March, last year.
He is one of only three pacers to have beaten Leap To Fame twice or more in his career. The others are Swayzee (three times) and Kingman (twice).
“I’ve said it before, I’ve been in the game more than 25 years and Leap To Fame is the best horse I’ve seen,” Licastro said. “To race against him in big races is a privilege, to beat him is incredible.
“Hugo’s been able to do that twice on his merits and we’ll head to Brisbane hoping he can do it again.”
That’s for the Brisbane Inter Dominion series, which consists of two rounds of compulsory qualifying heats on July 4 and 11 before the $1 million final on July 18, all at Albion Park.
“Leap To Fame’s great, but even greater as the races get longer and this final is 2,700 meters which is a real challenge,” Licastro said.
Against that, the Blacks A Fake was also 2,700 meters, albeit Don Hugo was superbly driven by Luke McCarthy when he trailed the leader, The Janitor, while Leap To Fame sat parked (outside the leader) and Don Hugo used the passing lane to snatch the narrowest of wins.
Licastro talked of McCarthy as his greatest asset in races.
“The guy should be immortalized,” he said. “There are some great drivers around, but to me Luke’s the best, especially in these big races.
“And it’s not just the driving, he’s a genius trainer, too. He times their preparations perfectly.”
Licastro recalls getting a phone call from McCarthy when Don Hugo, who had shown potential at 2 and 3 with McCarthy and a stint in Victoria with Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin, was an early 4-year-old.
“He rang saying he’d worked him up the rise, his hill-straight at home, and was convinced the horse was better than he realized,” Licastro said.
“He had a good winter campaign that season in Brisbane with some great runs, but without really winning anything. It proved to be his launching pad.”
In the space of the next six months (September 2024 to March 2025), Don Hugo won the world’s richest harness race, the then $2.1 million TAB Eureka, landed the iconic Inter Dominion final and then upstaged Leap To Fame in the 2025 Miracle Mile final.
It’s the only time in three cracks at the Miracle Mile that Leap To Fame has been beaten.
“What a ride those six or seven months were,” Licastro said.
“It started in the most amazing fashion with that Eureka win. I don’t think I’ve said this publicly, but when we were trying to get a slot holder to take him, Luke said if he was in the betting markets, they might take notice.
“So, I rang someone at TAB [betting shop] and asked them to add him to the market. They put him at $71, so I had $1,000 on him [to win $71,000], then another $1,000 at $51 [to win $51,000] and then another $1,000 again at $21 [to win $21,000].
“We had so many reasons to celebrate, which we certainly did with family and friends, that night.
“It was a win I’d talked about a year earlier when I sat with friends watching Encipher win [and beat Leap To Fame] in the inaugural Eureka. Don Hugo won a support race on the night and I said, ‘We’ll be back next year with him to win the Eureka.’
“The two years since I said that have been a dream come true for someone who loves the game and has been in it as long as me.
“It’s been a time to treasure. It’s amazing how a horse like this can bring a family together and really bond them. He’s done that for us.”
But the past six months have been rocky for Don Hugo.
He bypassed some early season features in Victoria to focus on the Miracle Mile (where he ran a great third to Leap To Fame) and the $1.25 million Nullarbor (slot race) in Perth.
“He was favorite, but got sick with a stomach blockage and we had to scratch him,” Licastro said. “It was scary, really scary for a while and Luke [McCarthy] stayed there all night with him one night. Thankfully, they finally cleared the blockage with tubes.
“Luke said all the signs are that he’s fully recovered, but it’s still a bit of a wait and see for me.
“He’s racing Saturday night [at Menangle] in a race he should win, so that will tell us more.”
Don Hugo will be accompanied to Brisbane by his heir apparent amongst the “22 or so” horses Licastro owns through his Kingstead Lodge business.
That’s exciting 2-year-old Don Hunter, who made it four wins and a third from just five starts when he effortlessly won the $100,000 Australian Gold final at Menangle last Saturday.
“Luke loves this horse,” Licastro said. “He says he’s one of the best 2-year-olds he’s trained.”
Licastro bought a slot in Australia’s richest 2-year-old race, the $500,000 Group 1 Protostar, just so Don Hunter was guaranteed a slot. The race is at Albion Park on July 11.
“That’s the thing with the prize money Don Hugo has won us [over $2.7 million], I didn’t go and buy a boat or sports car, I’ve put it back into the game,” he said. “I think it’s important that people know that.
“I paid $140,000 for Don Hunter as a yearling and spent a lot on three yearlings Luke picked out in the U.S. sales a couple of years back and all of them have won races, so I’ve been lucky.”
The headline act is Governor’s Cup winner Gentleman’s Club, who is being set for the Meadowlands Pace after a recent trip to the North America Cup qualifiers.
“He’s the second colt Luke bought that year,” Licastro said. “The first, Ring In The Captain, won four races in the U.S. and he’s now in Australia and will race here. There’s also a filly [Captain Betty] who’s not far off returning to the races [in the U.S.].
“I’ve also got a trotter we bought in the U.S. and won there, called I’m King Of The Hill, and it’s also now in Australia to continue racing here.”
Back to Don Hunter, and Licastro said he provided a vehicle to entice three of his friends who raced thoroughbred horses to try harness racing for the first time.
“I set up a bit of a syndicate when I bought him,” he said. “I didn’t need to, but there was lots of interest when I had the success with Don Hugo and it’s been great to get some thoroughbred guys in. You can imagine how excited they were the other night when he won the Gold final.”
While Licastro craves more feature race success, just competing in the biggest races remains a thrill.
“I spent years and years with my horses racing in provincial races, tracks like Penrith, so when Don Hugo comes along and changes all that, it’s hard to go back,” he said with a laugh.
“Luckily, I’ve had some luck since Hugo and got some more nice horses to keep in the big races.
“We’ll go to Brisbane hoping and thrilled to be part of it, but knowing what a big challenge it’s going to be, especially for Hugo against Leap To Fame.
“But he’s beaten him twice before and he’s got Luke McCarthy, so we’ll be giving it our best shot.”
