Leaping towards more records

By Adam Hamilton

AS the great Leap To Fame returns home for a freshen-up, another remarkable statistic of his sustained success has emerged.

Leap To Fame’s five years of dominance at the top level have him in an elite class of just three pacers.

Only Westburn Grant, Holmes DG and Leap To Fame have been able to win at least three Derbys as a three-year-old and race on to add six or more Grand Circuit race wins.

Leap To Fame snared the NSW, Queensland and Victoria Derbys before adding six Grand Circuit wins (2 x Miracle Miles, 2 x Inter Dominion finals, Hunter Cup and Blacks A Fake).

That really sells him short though because the evolution of the Grand Circuit and creation of huge slot races have seen them not count in his tally.

In reality, Leap To Fame’s two Race by Sport Nation wins, NZ free-for-all and even his two Sunshine Sprints should count.

Throw in two Cranbourne Cups, two Newcastle Miles, a Rising Sun, Ballarat Cup and Kilmore Cup and it’s a heck of a CV.

Westburn Grant’s dominance was stunning in the mid to late 1990s.

His three Derby wins came in Victoria, NSW and NZ.

At a time there were lots more Grand Circuit races, Westburn Grant won 10 of them.

They were: 2 x Miracle Mile, 2 x WA Cups, 2 x SA Cups, Treuer Memorial, Inter Dominion, Queensland Pacing Championship (now Blacks A Fake) and Australian Pacing Championship.

The Barry Purdon-trained Holmes DG often doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

He won four Derbys (Victoria, NSW, NZ and Great Northern (NZ).

Holmes DG then added six Grand Circuit wins between Australia and NZ. They were: 2 x Miracle Miles, Victoria Cup, NZ Cup, Auckland Cup and Treuer Memorial.

On the score of Grand Circuit wins alone, Westburn Grant’s 10 is second only to former WA champion Im Themightquinn with 11.

With the news Leap To Fame will race on for another year, that’s another record he could challenge.

Depending on where they go and how long they keep racing, Leap To Fame potentially has another two Inter Dominions and another crack at races like the Blacks A Fake, Miracle Mile and Hunter Cup.

· PHOTO: Angelique Bridson