Captains Knock gets the go-ahead for $1m The Race

Captains Knock confirmed for The Race, Leap To Fame eyeing up another tilt at the New Zealand Cup and the latest on Keayang Zahara all feature in today's Aussie News update.

The Race confirmed for Captains Knock 

By Adam Hamilton 

Star NSW pacer Captains Knock will add to the Aussie raid at Cambridge next month.

Connections wanted to see how he came through last Friday night’s Renshaw Cup at Cambridge, but trainer-driver Brad Hewitt has given him the tick of approval.

Captains Knock fell agonizingly short of banking a record $1 million bonus at Penrith.

The six-year-old missed the full NSW Carnival of Cups bonus by a half-head when second and rundown late by the much-improved Ubetcha Tigerpie.

Like Swayzee last year, Captains Knock won four of the five legs of the NSW Carnival of Cups and finished second in the other.

They both still banked $500,000 for connections.

“It’s frustrating to get so close, but he gave it everything. The winner just went super on the night,” trainer-driver Brad Hewitt said.

“He wasn’t at his most comfortable on the tight track. Apart from Albury, where he didn’t enjoy the small track at all, he hadn’t been around a track like Penrith since he raced there about four years ago.

“He’s coming to the end of a long campaign, but he seems good since the race so we will push on the NZ.

“After NZ he can have a long spell. He’ll miss the Inter Dominion.”

Captains Knock has won 27 of his 68 starts and banked $838,351, but that doesn’t include the $500,000 bonus.

Captains Knock's inclusion takes the Aussie involvement in The Race to at least five. The others are Leap To Fame, Swayzee, Kingman and The Janitor. 

In other stable news, Hewitt said his former Inter Dominion-winning trotter The Locomotive was progressing well on the comeback trail.

“He’s due back in my stable next month. So far, so good,” he said.

“He’s down at Nathan Jack’s on the water-walker, then he comes back here.

“He’s the sort of horse who comes to hand quickly because he really gets into his work.

“The plan is the Inter Dominion (Albion Park in July) and time is on our side at the moment.”

The Locomotive hasn’t raced since being struck down with niggling issues after winning at Menangle on November 29.

It ruled him out of early season features like the Great Southern Star, Hammerhead Mile and Trot Slot in Cambridge.

NZ Cup plan for Leap To Fame 

Returning to Cambridge next month may not be Leap To Fame’s last Kiwi raid.

His owner Kevin Seymour has opened the door for another potential New Zealand Cup tilt in November.

While expectation was growing Leap To Fame would be retired to stud after chasing a third Inter Dominion title in Brisbane in July, Seymour hinted otherwise.

“We would love to go back and have another crack at the NZ Cup,” he said. “I know Grant (Dixon, trainer-driver) feels the same way,” he said.

“We feel a bit of unfinished business. He had a hard run last year and went down fighting, but he looks to be racing even better now.

“I know people want to know our plans, but we genuinely don’t have any.

“We’ve agreed to let the horse tell us, through his performances, when it’s time to retire him.

“For now, we’re focused on getting back to Cambridge and the Inter Dominion, then we’ll reassess everything.”

Seymour didn’t deny talk he was preparing a stud deal in the background.

“Yes, but we have to do that because if he was to retire this year, we would need everything in place,” he said.

“We’re not doing that because he will retire, it is in case we retire him.”

Seymour then quickly switched talk back to his excitement at returning to Cambridge.

“We had such a great trip last year and the horse thrived,” he said. “That’s why we’re trying to pretty much replicate what we did last year with him.

“He’s back home now where he loves it most, then he’ll go back to Sydney by road and it seems the flight to Auckland will be Easter Saturday or Sunday.

“He won’t race over there before The Race and he won’t be staying after it. It’s a hit-and-run trip.”

It looks likely Leap To Fame will go into the $1 million The Race without another start, meaning he will be a month between runs.

“Grant and Trista seem to think that won’t be a problem and it would be very hard to get a race to ‘stand-up’ (with enough starters) at Albion Park if we nominate him,” Seymour said.

“The other reason for bringing him home straight after Cambridge is how long Grant’s already been away this year. He’s had six weeks in Melbourne and two weeks in Sydney. That’s a huge ask with a big stable and young family.

“We also want time to give him (Leap To Fame) a bit of a break at home before bringing him back up for the Inter Dominion. He has had a busy start to the year.”

Leap To Fame has already raced eight times in 2026 for six wins, two seconds and banked $A876,000.

Next stop Cambridge for Keayang Zahara 

Champion Aussie trotting mare Keayang Zahara may not race again before the $530,000 Trot Slot at Cambridge on April 10.

Connections are considering Saturday night’s Terang Trotters’ Cup, but driver Jason Lee said it was more likely she would miss the race given it a standing start and Keayang Zahara would be off a 30m handicap.

“We haven’t made a final decision and we would dearly love to run her at our home track, but it may not be the right thing so close to the (NZ) trip,” he said.

“If she didn’t run, we could still take her in for a workout between races so she’s part of the night (Terang Cup night).”

Lee said the Keayang Zahara had travelled home well and enjoyed a quiet week since her sparkling Group 1 Hammerhead Mile win at Menangle just over a week ago.

It was her 27th win from 28 starts and she equalled the Australasian mile trotting record at 1min51.5sec.

“If I’d have asked her a bit earlier, we might have broken the record instead of equalling it,” Lee laughed.

“She came home with Paddy (Lee) and Harry (Craven) and they said she travelled really well and we’ve given her a quiet time since. We’ll start to crank her up again this week.”

Lee said travel plans for Keayang Zahara and Jilliby Ballerini would be finalised this week.

“Paddy’s working through it and being Easter makes it a bit trickier, but it looks like they’ll go over a week before the race, so they won’t race over there before the big one,” he said.

“For Keayang Zahara it will almost certainly be just a one race trip, but there is a chance ‘Ballerino’ could stay on for a couple of those other big trotting races in Auckland. We’ll play that by ear and see how she is after the Cambridge run.”

Lee’s cousin, Glen Craven, will drive Jilliby Ballerini.

Asked whether Jilliby Ballerini could upset Keayang Zahara, Lee said: “It’s possible, but every time you think the gap might be closing, ‘Zahara’ does something special and reminds you how good she is.

“I’d say if they clashed 50 times, Zahara would win 48 or 49 of them.”

Jilliby Ballerini, who has chased Keayang Zahara in the Great Southern Star and Hammerhead in recent starts, is likely to tackle the Terang Trotters’ Cup.

“I’d say so. She’s raced from a stand and it makes more sense to run her,” Lee said.

Jilliby Ballerini has won her only two Australian standing-start races and ran a desperately unlucky fourth to Gus from a stand in the Dominion Trot at Addington on November 11, last year.