The start of the Brisbane Inter Dominion is just over a month away.
The question most are asking is whether a third crown is there for the taking for Leap To Fame.?
The all-time great won his first title in December 2023, missed the 2024 series with a health setback (Don Hugo won that) and returned to land his second title at Albion Park in July, last year.
Leap To Fame is $1.70 favourite to become just the fourth pacer to win at least three Inter Dominion pacing finals – Blacks A Fake (four wins), Im Themightyquinn (three) and Our Sir Vancelot (three) are the others – when this year’s $1 million final comes around on July 18.
On what we saw in the Miracle Mile on March 14 and Cambridge’s Race by Sport Nation on April 10, those odds look about right.
Throw in the fact the series is on his home deck and it suits him even better.
But, as great as Leap To Fame is, it is folly to say he looks a good thing.
Clearly the one to beat? An absolute stand-out? A deserved hot favourite?
Yes to them all, but unbeatable? Well, that’s a no.
Remember, Leap To Fame was beaten at Albion Park the last time he tackled a feature race at the track in the Group 1 Blacks A Fake last December.
Granted it was a monstrous run, but a competitive drive by Pete McMullen on The Janitor and a brilliant tactical steer from Luke McCarthy on Don Hugo not only made for a great contest, but a minor upset.
As massive as Leap To Fame went, he was able to wear down the emerging The Janitor in sizzling times, but Don Hugo’s much easier run behind the leader and last crack at the champ enabled him to snatch victory by a whisker.
More recently, Leap To Fame was beaten in the Hunter Cup for the second consecutive year and in almost identical circumstances when Swayzee led throughout to beat him.
Then, of course, there were those defeats at the hooves of Kingman in the Victoria and NZ Cups late last year.
I know, I hear you saying he’s racing better now than then. Or at least he was at Miracle Mile and Cambridge time.
That’s true, there’s no doubt he looked sharper and more in “killer-mode” in those two wins than his races late last year and at the very start of 2026.
But there is enough talent in this pacing series to make things interesting.
Don Hugo, who has beaten Leap To Fame twice in Grand Circuit races, and The Janitor look the two of the major threats.
The Janitor followed that close-up third in the Blacks A Fake with a fantastic second to Leap To Fame in the Miracle Mile. He returned to racing with a dazzling Albion Park win last Saturday night.
You sense it’s just a matter of when he beats him for the first time. He’s good enough and still improving.
Then there is his old foe and sibling Swayzee, who boasts three major wins over Leap To Fame.
But, at eight-and-a-half years old, has Swayzee still got it in him to do what he did just four months ago at Melton in the Hunter Cup?
Then comes the real X-factor … champion young mare Captains Mistress.
She could be THE biggest danger.
It will be such an exciting twist if she wins the Group 1 Rising Sun on July 4 – the same night as the opening round of Inter Dominion heats – and connections accept the wildcard into the Inter Dominion final.
Time will tell, but trainer Jason Grimson did say just recently he “wouldn’t hesitate” to take up the challenge.
The trotting series is a bit different without the “Queen”, aka Keayang Zahara.
Most markets have local star Gus and Zahara’s stablemate, Jilliby Ballerini, as the favourites.
I’m with Gus and quite strongly. He’s now seasoned, more reliable and gets to tackle the series from his own stables in Queensland.
But I’ll be fascinated how Susan Is Her Name returns and have immense respect for Chris Svanosio to resurrect defending champion Arcee Phoenix, too.
The Inter Dominion is iconic for a reason and we’re just weeks away from another amazing chapter in the event’s storied history.
