Taking on Australian heroes going to be no party for Kiwi pacer
Michael Guerin • February 3rd, 2026 9:26 AM • 3 min read
New Zealand’s best pacer Republican Party has flown into the lion’s den just hours after being awarded the greatest honour of his career.
The little horse with the big heart was named New Zealand Harness Horse of the Year at the awards function at Addington on Saturday night, an honour impossible to argue with after he won four Group One races last season, including the Auckland Cup.
While he was able to dominate his domestic rivals for much of 2025, Republican Party was beaten fair and square by Aussie superstars Kingman in the New Zealand Cup and Leap To Fame in the New Zealand Free-For-All in November.
Yet he flew to Victoria yesterday to try to patch up New Zealand’s injured pacing pride in both the Kilmore Cup this Saturday and the Hunter Cup at Melton on February 14.
What happened just an hour after the awards ceremony finished on Saturday night showed how daunting that task will be.
Leap To Fame produced one of the great modern-day pacing performances when he sat parked outside Kingman in the Cranbourne Cup and, after looking beaten at the 200m mark, came again to record a remarkable victory.
Leap To Fame has nothing left to prove in his career but the magnificent Queenslander has been vulnerable when sitting parked in the best races in the last 12 months, losing more of them than he has won.
In saying that, he gets closer than the other superstar pacers would when he does go down fighting.
But on Saturday night, he would not accept second, his heart too much for even the sectionals clock that suggested he shouldn’t have been able to do what he did.
The race had a bizarre build-up. Kingman and two of his stablemates had to be rescued off their horse transporter on the way to the track after it caught fire because of a tyre issue.
That meant all three Luke McCarthy-trained pacers had to pass a veterinary examination before they were allowed to start and if that cost Kingman even a percentage point of performance, maybe that was a deciding factor.
But Leap To Fame’s performance was that of a champion, a title he has worn for two or three years, with all that is left for him to aim for is how high up the list of all-time greats he ends his career.
Republican Party now finds himself walking into this ongoing bar brawl between Leap To Fame and Kingman with Swayzee, who finished down the track in the Cranbourne Cup, also laying in weight in the Hunter Cup.
It all sounds a bit to daunting but Republican Party did almost knock off Swayzee and Leap To Fame in the Hunter Cup last year after enjoying a pegs run, something young driver Carter Dalgety will be hoping he can secure again to have any chance of beating the local heroes over the next two weeks.
“I’d love to get over there and get one back for the Kiwis, because for so long we dominated these races, but for the last few years, it has been them doing it to us,” Dalgety said.
“But we have all seen how great a horse they are so we know this isn’t going to be easy.”
Bet N Win won the Trotter of the Year at the awards while Auckland couple Ken and Karen Breckon won the coveted Outstanding Contribution award.
This article first appeared in the New Zealand Herald. Click here to read the original article.
