Kingman goes 3-0 against Leap To Fame in Shepparton Cup

By Adam Hamilton

New Zealand Cup hero Kingman extended his dominance over Leap To Fame with an emphatic win in last night’s Group 2 Shepparton Cup.

It was the third time in as many meetings Kingman has beaten the great Leap To Fame. No other pacer has beaten him three times.

It positions Kingman superbly to now have a serious crack at Victoria’s new $1 million Summer Carnival bonus.

Kingman will need to win at least three of the remaining four feature Cups, including the $250,000 Group 1 Hunter Cup on February 14, to win the bonus.

They are the $100,000 Group 2 Ballarat Cup next Saturday, $150,000 Group 1 Cranbourne Cup (January 30), $150,000 Kilmore Cup (February 7).

The Kingman/Leap To Fame rematch could come as soon as Ballarat next Saturday night.

Trainer-driver Grant Dixon confirmed Leap To Fame would definitely back-up next week.

McCarthy said Kingman would be entered for the race and he would make a final decision on a start “in the next 24 hours”.

“He seems to have come through it well, so Ballarat is a real chance,” he said.

Ultimately, the barrier draw made all the difference at Shepparton with Kingman leading easily and Leap To Fame having to sit outside him for most of the 2690m trip in scorching times.

Despite getting too keen and over-racing in the lead, Kingman just kept running and obliterated the track record by almost two seconds. His 1min53.7sec mile rate for 2690m took 1.9sec off former stablemate Spirit Of St Louis’ record from the 2022 Shepparton Cup.

The race developed into the two-horse war everyone expected, but Leap To Fame never really looked like beating his younger rival.

Kingman won by 2.9m from Leap To Fame by 2.9m with another 43.1m away to the third placegetter, Our Luciano.

After dominating Australasia’s open class ranks for three years, Leap To Fame has been beaten by Kingman in the Victoria Cup (October 14), NZ Cup (November 11) and now the Shepparton Cup.

McCarthy was in awe of the performance given how Kingman over-raced.

“Apart from the NZ Cup, which was a stand, most of his mobile start races have been sprints or middle distance, so when Leap To Fame came up alongside him early, he just wanted to go and through it was a mile (1609m),” he said.

“With most horses you’d worry about that, but he still felt awesome so I just sort of let him run, rather than trying to fight him.

“It’s incredible the times they can run these days. He still felt great on the line.

“His NZ Cup win showed what a special horse he is and he’s going on with it.”

It was Kingman’s eighth win from 11 starts for McCarthy and made a lie of his lacklustre first-up third in last week’s Bendigo Cup at Melton.

“I haven’t even watched that replay. He just didn’t feel himself, the trip down so close to the race flattened him. I knew he’d bounce back this time,” he said.

Despite Kingman’s dominance over Leap To Fame, McCarthy oozes respect for his rival.

“He’s gone enormous again. Look at all his runs, they’re track records and he does the work,” he said.

“For him to do the work he did (at Shepparton) in that time and still get so close shows what a champion he is.

“The barrier draws (going ahead) are going to be crucial. If he draws better than Kingman and gets to the front, then we’re going to have our work cut out.”

Dual NZ Cup winner Swayzee, who won easily at Menangle last night, is now expected to bypass Ballarat and start his Victorian raid in the Cranbourne Cup.