Leap To Fame’s farewell tour kicks off Saturday

by Adam Hamilton

Let the last dance begin.

Just as Michael Jordan is regarded as the greatest basketballer of all time, Leap To Fame has that tag as a Down Under pacer.

ESPN’s superb “The Last Dance” documented Jordan’s final year with the Chicago Bulls in 1997-98 and hopefully somebody is capturing the same with Leap To Fame as he enters his last 12 months of racing.

It’s a bonus in many ways.

Just a few months back, many felt the Brisbane Inter Dominion in July was going to be Leap To Fame’s farewell to racing.

But now we get another year, and it starts at Albion Park when he returns from a spell on Saturday night (Sept. 26).

That’s incredibly rare from a stallion, especially racing into his 8-year-old season.

He will be in high demand at stud, but breeders have to wait, and wait, and wait.

We’ve got his owners Kevin and Kay Seymour, and the fact they’re in their twilight years, to thank for it.

After 50 years in the game, Leap To Fame is the champion they’ve been hoping for and dreaming of. Watching him race is pure pleasure for them.

The Seymours don’t need the money. They’re among the wealthiest people in Australia.

And they love harness racing. Showing off their great horse and sharing him with the people has always been a focus.

That’s why he’s been to so many parts of Australia and both islands of New Zealand.

Even in his final campaign, he will add another big piece to that.

We learned this week, to the surprise of many, Leap To Fame will race in Western Australia for the first time in his 92-start career (of which he’s won 72), which has spanned almost 5½ years.

The Seymours have bought a slot in the $1.25 million Group 1 Nullarbor, slated for April 23 at Perth’s Gloucester Park.

Leap To Fame will stay another week for the $300,000 Group 1 Fremantle Cup.

If you thought he was going to be “nursed” to retirement, think again.

The two Perth features will be part of a remarkable nine probable Group 1 targets for Leap To Fame between now and July, next year.

The first of them will be the biggest he is yet to win, the iconic $800,000 New Zealand Cup at Addington in Christchurch on Nov. 10.

He has only had one crack at it for a brave second to Kingman last year.

Three days later, Leap To Fame will try to successfully defend the Group 1 New Zealand free-for-all title he won last year.

Then he will return home to try and win the Group 1 Blacks A Fake on his home track (Albion Park) on Dec. 5. He’s had three goes at the race for a win and two seconds so far.

The start to 2027 is still a bit unclear, but Seymour has spoken glowingly about how much he’s enjoyed winning the past three Cranbourne Cups with Leap To Fame.

It would be a surprise if he didn’t chase a fourth, especially now the race has been boosted to $150,000 and has Group 1 status on Jan. 30.

The $250,000 Group 1 Hunter Cup is two weeks later at Melton. Leap To Fame won it in 2024 and has finished second to his older half-brother Swayzee in the past two years.

Then comes the Miracle Mile in March. Leap To Fame won that in 2024, went down bravely when second to Don Hugo the next year and bounced back to win it again in one of his defining performances earlier this year.

Then it is the two Perth features in April, a break, and his swansong in his fourth Inter Dominion series at Albion Park in July.

Leap To Fame romped home in his first and third Inter Dominion finals, missed the second (the 2024 series) through illness and ran that Herculean second to Captains Mistress after everything went wrong in this year’s final on July 18.

It just seems right he’s saying goodbye at his home track where we first saw glimpses of the greatness to follow.

Leap To Fame is already by far the richest pacer Down Under has seen. His $6,530,863 is almost $2 million more than the next best, another former Queensland champion Blacks A Fake.

Given the plethora of Group 1 opportunities ahead, he looks sure to become the most successful Down Under Group 1 pacer of all time. He currently shares that record with Lazarus and Westburn Grant at 17.

He really is the gift that keeps giving.

And he’s going to leave a heck of a void when he does retire.