This is a Victoria Cup for the ages.
The late inclusion of Queensland sensation Leap To Fame cemented this as the best harness race Victoria has seen in recent history.
There is no more exciting pacer in the land, but Leap To Fame is yet to win a Grand Circuit race.
Leviathan owner Kevin Seymour has forked out $40,000 for a return flight from Brisbane for “the best horse I’ve ever had” to try and do so at Melton on Saturday night. But Leap To Fame, who boasts 24 wins from just 32 starts, will need to be every bit as good as Seymour and many others think to beat this stellar field.
Rock N Roll Doo looked the sport’s next big thing when he won this race last year. Despite a rollercoaster ride of form since, his trainer-driver Mick Stanley is adamant he is a better horse now.
Trainer Andy Gath says Catch A Wave is the best pacer he’s trained. He wanted to run him in last year’s Victoria Cup as a three-year-old, but didn’t get in. He has since won the big Chariots Of Fire and Miracle Mile double.
It’s hard to imagine we’ve ever had a better batch of pacing mares in Australia and that’s underlined by the fact two of them – stablemates Encipher and Amore Vita – are tackling this Cup.
No mare has won the Victoria Cup, but we know at least Encipher is good enough. She beat a super field – including Leap To Fame, Catch A Wave and Captain Ravishing – in the world’s richest harness race, the $2.1m TAB Eureka, at Menangle on September 2.
And the connections of Amore Vita have and continue to argue their mare is at least as good as Encipher.
Will a mare create history tonight?
Better Eclipse is already a dual Group 1 winner and ran third in this race last year. He’s primed again after winning the Group 2 Kilmore Cup last start.
What do we make of Captain Ravishing, the horse who has done freakish things at times, and defied injury setbacks and a rushed preparation to run a slashing third behind Encipher and Leap To Fame in the TAB Eureka?
“He’s much better than he was going into the Eureka,” trainer Ahmed Taiba said.
And what about the drama on Friday morning? Hunter Cup champion Honolua Bay was withdrawn on vet’s advice and replaced by last weekend’s Smoken Up Sprint winner Bulletproof Boy. He’s a horse some say was unlucky to be named emergency in the first place and his inclusion certainly adds spice to the battle at the start.
With a line-up this good, it’s no wonder they call the Victoria Cup the Cox Plate of harness racing.
TUNE IN at MELTON on Saturday
First Race: 6.07pm Last Race: 10.40pm
Racecaller: Dan Mielicki with Ryan Phelan, Adan Hamilton, Michael Guerin, Gareth Hall and Bronte Nieuwenburg part of the full coverage at TrotsVision.com.au and on Racing.com's free-to-air channels 78 and 68, while Brittany Graham will be on track for Sky Racing.
TrotsVision: WATCH LIVE
SEN Track: LISTEN LIVE
RSN 927: LISTEN LIVE
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