Photo: Stuart McCormick
By Adam Hamilton
Australasia's pin-up pacer Leap To Fame is heading to New Zealand.
Despite recent speculation the megastar five-year-old could go to a slot race in Perth instead, his owner Kevin Seymour confirmed the $1m The Race By Grins at Cambridge Raceway on April 12 was the target.
“You can say he’s going to Cambridge, not Perth,” he said. “We’ve been through a tender process with a number of the slot owners in NZ and will be in a position to say who we are partnering with next week.
“As I’ve said all along, we asked the interested slot holders to tell us what they would do to promote the horse and the race if they were successful in partnering with us.
“We’ve had some great offers, which is great.”
Seymour has continually shown his desire to use Leap To Fame’s greatness and profile to promote harness racing.
He offered a five per cent in the entire for promotional purposes during the Brisbane Inter Dominion where Leap To Fame was unbeaten through the heats and final.
Seymour then opted to race Leap To Fame “off Broadway” at Cranbourne and Newcastle in recent weeks.
“He’s become a real people’s horse, which we all love,” he said.
“It was fantastic to see so many people gather around the winner’s circle after he won the Newcastle Mile last week.
“We need all the promotion we can get in this game and anything we can do to help that with Leap To Fame is good by us.
“We’re really looking forward to taking him to the people in NZ, too.”
Seymour said the one proviso was trainer-driver Grant Dixon’s “tick of approval” after Leap To Fame’s next start in the $1mil Miracle Mile at Menangle tomorrow (Saturday week).
“Grant always gets the last call because the horse comes first, but if he’s happy with him after the Miracle Mile then we’ll turn our focus to Cambridge,” Seymour said.
Leap To Fame has raced 44 times for 34 wins, eight placings and banked $2,215,957.
Seymour, who enjoyed huge success as part-owner of former US pacer Mr Feelgood in races like the Inter Dominion and Hunter Cup, said Leap To Fame was the horse he and wife Kay had been dreaming of.
“After more than 50 years in the game, he’s the one and we’re making the most of it,” he said.
