How times have changed at New Zealand Cup day
Adam Hamilton • November 11th, 2026 9:31 AM • 5 min read
How times have changed.
When I first came to NZ Cup Week in 1993, it was all about experiencing one of the great harness racing events in the world and watching NZ’s best horses do their thing.
It took until 2015 before I got to see an Aussie beat the Kiwis in the Cup when Kerryn Manning became the first female to drive the winner on Arden Rooney.
After that, it was another eight years before an Aussie won again.
That was Swayzee’s powerhouse staying performance in 2023.
Little did we know it would be the start of utter dominance.
Swayzee won again in 2024, Kingman upstaged Leap To Fame in an Aussie quinella last year and, fittingly, Leap To Fame added his name to the record books with yesterday’s win.
Throw in the fact Aussie have also won the past three Group 1 Dominion Trots – Just Believe (2024) and Gus (2025 and yesterday) – and the dominance is mindblowing.
But back to the Cup for now.
For all the greats who have won the race, and there have been so many – Lazarus, Terror To Love, Christian Culle, Iraklis, Chokin, Blossom Lady and so on – Leap To Fame is THE greatest.
If you’re a Kiwi and you doubt that, then look deeper.
There has never been a CV anything quite like his in the game.
Leap To Fame has raced 97 times for 77 wins and earnings over $7.5 million.
That was his 17th Group 1 win, breaking the previous Australasian record of 16 he held with greats Lazarus and Westburn Grant.
And NO other pacer has won Down Under’s four iconic races – the NZ Cup, Inter Dominion, Hunter Cup and Miracle Mile.
Of them, he’s won the Inter Dominion and Miracle Mile twice.
And there have been so many other huge wins, including two we will never forget in the ill-fated Cambridge slot race.
Retirement awaits, but we’ve still got plenty of time and opportunities to enjoy Leap To Fame’s farewell tour.
He might even back-up in Friday’s Group 1 NZ Pacing free-for-all at Addington.
Then it’s back home on Monday to prepare for the Group 1 Blacks A Fake at his home track, Albion Park, on December 5.
After a Christmas freshen-up, Leap To Fame will be back on the road to Victoria.
Plans can change, but the Kilmore and Hunter Cups in February look the targets.
March means a crack at a third Miracle Mile.
Then April is something new, Leap To Fame’s first trip to Perth for the $1.25 million Group 1 Nullarbor at Gloucester Park on April 23.
The finale comes back on his home deck for the Brisbane Inter Dominion in July.
Then, as he nears his eighth birthday, Leap To Fame will be retired to stud as the greatest we’ve seen.
Gus deserves a serious mention, too.
He did what Leap To Fame couldn’t by winning last year’s Group 1 Dominion Trot and returning to do it again yesterday.
What a star he is.
What a training performance it was from Chantal Turpin.
And what a day it was for Queensland harness racing, which was regarded as a harness backwater just 10-15 years ago.
Yes, times have changed.
