Night of Champions – an Australian perspective

[Wandering Eyes]

By Adam Hamilton 

It was only fitting Leap To Fame headlined an Aussie dominance of Cambridge’s Night of Champions.

The Queensland champion had already earned comparisons with the all-time greats of Australasian pacing and only fuelled them further with a spellbinding and almost unbelievable win.

What a way to make your first splash in New Zealand.

Throw in another Aussie trifecta in the TAB Trot – the second time in its two-year history – and it was one of the proudest nights for Australians in NZ.

There was so much emotion and passion around Arcee Phoenix’s TAB Trot win after finishing fourth last year.

And, of course, the Aussie-trained by Kiwi-owned mare Queen Elida’s second placing made her the all-time highest earning trotting mare in Australasia.

But the night belonged to the pacer they call Larry.

Such was the magnitude of the win, his reserved trainer-driver Grant Dixon declared it his “greatest performance yet.”

The Queensland megastar did all the work, crushed Miracle Mile winner Don Hugo on a rain-soaked track and still smashed the NZ record by a staggering 1.6sec.

“When you factor in travelling here (NZ) for the first time, drawing out so wide and the work he did, I think it’s his greatest performance,” Dixon said.

“It took so long to get around them to even get outside him (Don Hugo), then I had plenty of instruction pre-race I had to put more pressure on than I did in the Miracle Mile.

“I knew I had Luke (McCarthy, driving Don Hugo) beaten on the last bend, but I was worried about how much work we’d done and the locals coming at me late.

“He’s just an incredible horse, a life changing horse and it’s much as relief as anything to come here and win a race like this.”

Leap To Fame, who has won 50 of his 62 starts and over $4.3 million, will now return home for a break before his home state Brisbane Inter Dominion series, starting on July 5.

He won the last Brisbane Inter Dominion two years ago.

Seymour said returning to NZ for the iconic NZ Cup at Addington in November was a genuine possibility.

In the TAB Trot, trainer-driver Chris Svanosio praised his late father-in-law, renowned vet Dr Alistair MacLean, for paving the way for the biggest win of his career.

Arcee Phoenix led throughout to continue Victoria’s dominance TAB Trot after Just Believe led home a first four for Victorian raiders in last year’s inaugural running.

Last night it was Arcee Phoenix beating Queen Elida. It was an Australian trifecta with The Locomotive running third.

“Alistair was amazing with horses. We had Arcee Phoenix at home as a two-year-old, but didn’t race him. Alistair mapped out a plan, which has ultimately taken us to win the richest trotting race in this part of the world,” Svanosio said. “We all miss dearly and we’d love him to have been here for this tonight.”

McLean passed away in September, last year.

Arcee Phoenix ran fourth in last year’s TAB Trot, but Svanosio knew he had a better horse this time.

“He was still developing and also at the end of a long campaign when he came last year,” he said. “Everything Alistair said and hoped would happen over time, has with this horse.

“He’s just getting to his prime now, so we’ll miss the other big races here (NZ) and get him back home to prepare for the Inter Dominion.”

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