Leap To Fame owner has big decision to make for TAB Eureka

The Australian

2 days ago

Before Kevin Seymour switches back into Leap To Fame mode, he's got his sights set on another mega race with a couple of his other young stars.
Seymour is one of the biggest fans of the world's richest harness race, the $2.1m TAB Eureka, and is desperate to win it.
Not only was one of the first to snap up a slot in the race when it launched three years ago, but he has also had multiple starters without winning it.
Leap To Fame was beaten into second spot by star mare Encipher in the inaugural 2023 TAB Eureka, then Seymour used his slot on young star Bay Of Biscay, who flashed home for second to Don Hugo last year.
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He is holding off his decision on his slot runner for the race on September 6, but will be one of his star three-year-olds Fate Awaits or Path To Greatness.
'It's time to go one better as long as I can to make the final call on our slot runner,' he said. 'I think both our three-year-olds deserve slots and will be very competitive, but obviously I can only take one of them.
'Hopefully some of the other remaining slot-owners will snap up one of them, too.'
Trainer-driver Grant Dixon added to the intrigue with a curve ball that Fate Awaits and Path To Greatness almost certainly would not race again before the TAB Eureka.
'No, they've both had busy winter campaigns and don't need the risk of a gutbuster before the race,' he said.
'They're very fit and a trial will be enough to sharpen them up.'
Fate Awaits would seem the front runner with 18 starts so far netting nine wins, including three at Group 1 level, seven placings and $635,076 in prizemoney.
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Seymour took aim at critics of the TAB Eureka and its funding model from within the industry.
'We need to be aspirational and give people a reason to go to the yearling sales and buy a horse with the dream of a life-changing win,' he said.
'The TAB Eureka is the race that does that and it's imperative we not just protect it, but continue to invest in, promote and build it.
'I've got no doubt it's helping our breeding industry by creating added interest in yearling sales.
'Simply, the TAB Eureka is lifting the industry by its bootstraps and making it attractive to people outside of the bubble and that's crucial.
'Look at the success of it in just two years. Menangle hasn't seen crows like it and the quality of horses to come out of it speaks for itself. Not to mention the promotion it drives for the sport.'
Leap To Fame and Catch A Wave have become two of Australia's best pacers and multi-millionaires since the inaugural 2023 TAB Eureka and last year's winner, Don Hugo, went on to win the huge Inter Dominion and Miracle Mile just months after his TAB Eureka victory.
'This race is giving the sport national exposure and has become, along the Inter Dominion, a flagship race,' Seymour said.
'It's become iconic and if you don't believe me, ask those who have won it so far and others, like me, who are desperate to win it.
'If we don't have showcase races like this, we won't remain a commercial sport, we'll turn into a hobby sport and slide into oblivion.
'We have to build dreams and create the possibility of winning a pot of gold, a life changing amount of money.'
Seymour dismissed suggestions the TAB Eureka was a 'race for the wealthy' in harness racing.
'Anyone can buy or breed a (Australian-bred) yearling with the chance to get into the race, that's the beauty of it,' he said.
'Look at the first winner (Encipher).'
Encipher was bred and raced by Kadina hobbyist, Tyson Linke.
Seymour added that he was a personal example of the many who have invested more in Australian-bred yearlings because of the TAB Eureka.
'So many of our best (Aussie) horses have been New Zealand-bred, but I'm proud my best recent horses have been Australian-bred like Leap To Fame, Tims A Trooper, Fate Awaits, Path To Glory and others,' he said.
* Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp