Barrier draws set up epic sibling showdown at Cambridge's Night of Champions

By Michael Guerin

The brothers are set to go at it again after the barrier draw for the $1 million Race by Sport Nation added some serious sibling spice to the slot race at Cambridge's Night of Champions on Friday night.

The draw for both the pacing race and $530,000 TAB Trot were revealed tonight and while the trot provided little drama with hot favourite Keayang Zahara drawing barrier 2, the pacing race has set the scene for a brutal family fight.

Defending champion Leap To Fame has drawn barrier seven in the 2200m mobile but is likely to start from barrier 6, with emergency Sooner The Bettor drawn inside him.

That is better than when he came from barrier 7 to sit parked and win this race last season but the issue is his older half-brother Swayzee has drawn barrier 2, with Captains Knock at barrier 1, speedster Merlin at 3, Kingman drawn the extreme outside and The Janitor having to start from two the second line.

While nothing is ever guaranteed in the early scramble of a $1m race if Swayzee, as looks likely, can stay in front of Leap To Fame early he may well roll to the front and that would just as likely leave his younger half-brother having to race outside him for the second half of the race.

And that is just about the least comfortable place in the world for Leap To Fame.

While he sat parked for the last 1200m and beat Don Hugo in this race last season Leap To Fame has a mixed record trying to eyeball Swayzee and beat him.

He did exactly that in the Miracle Mile at Menangle last month but Swayzee led and beat Leap To Fame in the Hunter Cup at Melton in February after doing exactly the same thing a year earlier.

Swayzee also led and beat Leap To Fame in the 2023 Blacks A Fake at Group 1 level at Albion Park in 2023 so if he is able to lead on Friday his life becomes easier and Leap To Fame’s becomes harder.

The reason Leap To Fame is more vulnerable than usual sitting outside Swayzee isn’t just because he can’t break him with sheer willpower but Cam Hart drives Swayzee relentlessly, pacing the sort of sectionals that make even a champion like Leap To Fame feel every centimeter of the extra ground he has to cover.

So if the bullying brothers end up trading blows again on Friday night racing fans are in for something special and they might at least get a better price now if they want to back one of the all-time great pacers.

If the pair do undo each other, and that hasn’t been the case when they have gone to war before, then Merlin and Captains Knock look set to be the closest stalkers but both Kingman and The Janitor face having to work early or come wide later in what could be a punishing race.

While the $1m Pace sets up to be a drama-filled two and a half minutes the slot trot should be dominated by Keayang Zahara both in the market and on the track.

Trotting’s glamour girl was always going to draw well as mares draw inside the boys under the race conditions but barrier 2 is close to perfect for her and unless something bizarre happens it is hard to envisage any other scenario than her being in front with 1600m to run.

Aiding Keayang Zahara even more, not that she really needs any help, is Queensland trotter Gus drawing the outside barrier 8, starting from 7 after emergency Bounce N Beyond comes out.

That leaves him facing the unappetising prospect of having to make his own luck sitting outside Keayang Zahara for the last lap on what is shaping up as a tough night to be a Queenslander.

RACE BY SPORT NATION
$1million, mobile 2200m, 8.55pm on Friday

1: Captains Knock
2: Swayzee
3: Merlin
4: Republican Party
5: Sooner The Bettor (Em)
6: We Walk By Faith
7: Leap To Fame
8: Kingman
9: Akuta (1 second line)
10: The Janitor
11: Better Knuckle Up

TAB TROT
$530,000, mobile 2200m, 8.25pm on Friday

1: Belle Neige 
2: Keayang Zahara
3: Ya Rite Darl
4: Jilliby Ballerini
5: Bounce N Beyond (Em)
6: Oscar Bonavena
7: Meant To Be
8: Gus