Fate Awaits could make the Leap to glory

Leviathan owner Kevin Seymour knows the comparisons are inevitable.

About the only “downside” of racing a megastar like Leap To Fame is that every exciting horse you have afterwards will be compared to him.

Enter Fate Awaits (Always B Miki).

In fairness, Fate Awaits has done a fair job of creating his own hype with three stunning wins from as many starts – by an aggregate of 62 metres for Leap To Fame’s trainer-driver Grant Dixon.

At his latest run, the two-year-old smashed an 11-year-old class record while winning his heat of the rich Haras Des Trotteurs Nutrien Equine Classic series at Albion Park last Tuesday week by 28.6 metres and in a sizzling 1.56.6sec mile rate for 2138m.

“I know it’s only natural that people will ask us to compare them, but it’s not fair. Our chances of getting another Leap To Fame ever, let alone three years later, are very remote to say the least,” Seymour said.

“Don’t forget I’ve been in the game over 50 years and waited that long for Leap To Fame to come along.

“What I will say is Fate Awaits is more of a natural two-year-old, more brilliant at the same stage. Leap To Fame got better each campaign and came into his own at three.

“That’s the unknown with Fate Awaits. Will he keep taking the next step like Leap To Fame has done so incredibly well? We can only hope.”

Like Leap To Fame, Fate Awaits was plucked from the Sydney yearling sales by Dixon and for a bargain price of just $24,000. Leap To Fame was a tad more at $45,000, but still not one of the “boom” lots of the sale.

“I’m in awe of Grant’s eye for a yearling,” Seymour said. “To find one this exciting so soon after Leap To Fame is quite incredible.

“And let’s not forget, the same year he bought Leap To Fame, the only other yearling he bought in Sydney was Tims A Trooper. He only cost $17,000 and is a Group 1 winner with almost $400,000 in the bank.”

Seymour knows the enormity of the task ahead for Fate Awaits in tonight’s $250,000 Nutrien Equine Classic Final for two-year-old colts and geldings at Melton.

“As good as he’s been at home, we know the bar goes to a whole new level in this race and we’re going to learn a lot more about him,” he said.

“Even at this early stage of the season, it looks like a really strong two-year-old crop and we’ve got to travel down from Queensland while Emma (Stewart) and Clayton’s (Tonkin) horses have the final in their own backyard.

“But when I talk to Grant, he’s adamant we’ve got a horse good enough to win if things go our way.”

The last time Seymour and Dixon combined for a feature race at Melton was Leap To Fame’s powerhouse Group 1 Hunter Cup win on February 2.

by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing Victoria