Could we see a Captains Mistress/Leap To Fame rematch next week?

by Adam Hamilton

Down Under’s most anticipated rematch could be a little over a week away.

Ever since wonder mare Captains Mistress upstaged the great Leap To Fame in that epic Brisbane Inter Dominion final on July 18, fans have been itching for the pair to clash again.

The Leap To Fame army feels he was “robbed” and craves redemption.

The all-time great produced one of the biggest runs in defeat you would ever see after being trapped wide early, snagging to last, and then doing all the work while Captains Mistress bowled along in front.

Captains Mistress’ win also squared their ledger at one and one after Leap To Fame won their first clash in the Miracle Mile on March 14. Captains Mistress was the hard luck story that night, being blocked for running on the inside at a crucial stage and finishing fifth.

Many felt she would have won with clear air.

The pair have been unbeaten since that July 18 showdown at Albion Park.

Leap To Fame has won all four starts in his own backyard at Albion Park.

In contrast, Captains Mistress won first-up at her home track, Menangle, went to Melbourne to win the Group 1 Victoria Cup on Oct. 17 and then made it a hat-trick in a different country on Monday.

The 4-year-old mare ticked-off a “Bucket List” item for trainer Jason Grimson and owner Mick Boots when she won last Monday’s $60,000 Group 2 Kaikoura Cup at one of the world’s most picturesque seaside racetrack in New Zealand’s South Island.

Leap To Fame arrived in New Zealand last Sunday.

Same country, same (South) island and, potentially, the same race.

A few things still have to fall into place, but next Friday’s (Nov. 13) $150,000 Group 1 New Zealand free-for-all (1,980 meters) could be round three.

Already just the thought of it has many saying it would trump Tuesday’s (Nov. 10) iconic $800,000 Group 1 New Zealand Cup at the highlight of the week.

But it could be the New Zealand Cup which thwarts the potential showdown.

Captains Mistress will bypass the New Zealand Cup and go straight to the free-for-all.

Why, you may rightly ask, when she is such a star?

Driver Cam Hart summed it up best.

“She’s not just a mare against the boys, but she’s only a 4-year-old mare,” he said.

“I’m sure she’d run a mighty race and could win it because she’s a freak, but it’s the toughest and most grueling race in this part of the world and we want to look after her.

“There are so many great races for her over the next few months without needing to ask that of her.”

So, it will be a fresh, sharp, and primed Captains Mistress heading to the New Zealand free-for-all.

The real question is whether Leap To Fame will be there.

Yes, he did back-up just three days a brave second in last year’s New Zealand Cup and win the free-for-all.

But he’s a year older and will have to bounce out what will be a brutally hard New Zealand Cup to face one of the best mares we’ve ever seen Down Under.

When you throw in the sprint distance of 1,980 meters, there looks to be a lot more in Captains Mistress’ favor than there is for Leap To Fame in the free-for-all.

Leap To Fame’s owner Kevin Seymour kept the possibility alive.

“The New Zealand Cup is the race we’ve gone there to win and that’s all we’re focused on at the moment,” he said.

“As far as the free-for-all goes, Grant [Dixon, trainer/driver] will play it exactly the way he did last year, wait and see how the horse comes through the Cup run.

“That’s the crucial part. There’s a lot to weigh up, including the bus racing and travel schedule he’s got to come after New Zealand.

“We can’t wait to race Captains Mistress again, it’s what everyone who follows the sport is wanting, but the horse will always come first.

“We feel there is some unfinished business with her after the Inter Dominion, but whether we tackle her again in the free-for-all or have to wait a bit longer will be up to Grant and the horse.”

Seymour makes a good point on Leap To Fame’s roadmap for the next nine months.

Beyond New Zealand, the rising 8-year-old returns home for the Group 1 Blacks A Fake at Albion Park on Dec. 5.

Then he’s down to Victoria for what will probably be two starts, including the Group 1 Hunter Cup, on Feb. 13.

From Melbourne, Leap To Fame heads to Sydney to try and win a record-equaling third Group 1 Miracle Mile on March 13.

Then it’s right over to the other side of Australia in April for his first trip to Perth and a tilt at the $1.25 million Group 1 Nullarbor slot race.

With stud duties slated for next season, Leap To Fame’s farewell to racing will come in the Brisbane Inter Dominion series in July.

Should the rematch with Captains Mistress not happen in the New Zealand free-for-all, then the Hunter Cup looks like the next logical showdown.

With Captains Mistress skipping the Blacks A Fake and unlikely to go to the Nullarbor, the Hunter Cup, Miracle Mile, and Brisbane Inter Dominion look to be the only likely clashes with Leap To Fame.

Until then, Hart will resume his other famous rivalry with Leap To Fame in the New Zealand Cup.

No horse has beaten Leap To Fame more than his older half-brother and arch-rival Swayzee.

The scorecard is 6-3 in Leap To Fame’s favor, but Swayzee did beat him for the second successive year when they clashed in the Hunter Cup earlier this year.

And no race suits Swayzee better than the grueling standing start nature of the New Zealand Cup.

He has won both attempts at the race in 2023 and ’24 and missed last year with some issues.

After some indifferent form, a few tying-up issues, and a lengthy spell, Swayzee has peaked again at the right time for what will almost certainly be his last crack at the New Zealand Cup.

Despite being a rising 9-year-old, he looked like the Swayzee of old and he rolled along at a gut-busting pace in front and broke the hearts of his rivals to win by almost 20 meters at Menangle last Saturday night.

Yes, he didn’t beat much and the New Zealand Cup against Leap To Fame, last year’s winner Kingman and rising Kiwi stars Marketplace and The Lazarus Effect will be much harder.

But hey, this is Swayzee, and he has continued to defy his age and logic.

“He’s back and at just the right time,” Hart said. “It’s really been the past two weeks or so where he’s felt like his old self. It didn’t surprise me that he went out and raced so well last weekend.

“I wanted to give him a really strong hitout as his last run before the Cup and he thrived on it.

“I’m in an incredibly fortunate position to be driving him and Captains Mistress at the same time.

“And winning a third [New Zealand] Cup on him would be as good as it gets.”

The cards are stacked in Australia’s favor to win the New Zealand Cup for a fourth successive year, after Swayzee went back-to-back and then Kingman won last year.

What a turnaround it’s been.

Previously, Arden Rooney was the last Aussie-trained winner in 2015.

And before that you had to go right back to My Lightning Blue in 1987.