Victoria Cup could be the race of the year

This Victoria Cup has all the makings of the best race Australian harness racing has seen this year.

The Hunter Cup was good, the Miracle Mile even better and the Blacks A Fake epic display of dominance from Leap To Fame (Bettor’s Delight).

But the sheer depth of quality and the coming together of so many stars for the first time this year sets the scene for something special at Melton on October 12.

At times the Victoria Cup has been dubbed the Cox Plate of harness racing and that’s the sort of race it will be this year.

Although we haven’t seen him race for a while, Leap To Fame will headline the field, as he would any race in this part of the world.

The generational talent, who some say could become the greatest we’ve seen, is set to have the first of two lead-up runs at Albion Park on Saturday night.

We might even see him warm-up at Melton a week before the Victoria Cup in Saturday week’s $50,000 Smoken Up Sprint.

And Leap To Fame has unfinished business in the Victoria Cup. It’s the only big race he’s been beaten in for the past 10 months.

And with its rich history, the Victoria Cup is a race Leap To Fame needs on his CV to be ranked with the all-time greats.

Leading the local change into the race will be the decorated open-class pair Catch A Wave (Captainteacherous) and Better Eclipse (Betterthancheddar).

Catch A Wave will be out to post his ninth Group 1 win and go one better than when he ran a desperately close second to Act Now in last year’s where Leap To Fame finished third.

Andy Gath’s stable star will head to the Cup via the Smoken Up Sprint, which could see a clash with Leap To Fame.

Better Eclipse, already a winner of the Group 1 Auckland Cup this year, beat Catch A Wave two starts back and couldn’t get into the Len Smith Mile from back at the rear last time.

He looks likely to go to Friday’s Kilmore Cup for his final lead-up race.

Waiting for him at Kilmore will be Jason Grimson’s pair District Attorney – one of few pacers to boast a win over Leap To Fame in recent times – and Major Moth (Art Major).

If they run well at Kilmore, both will progress to the Victoria Cup.

But Grimson’s top chance will surely be his reigning NZ Cup hero Swayzee (Rock N Roll Heaven), who returned from a break with a dominant win at Parkes last Friday.

What a buzz it must have been for Parkes – a town of just 14,000 people and five hour west of Sydney – to have a horse like Swayzee tackle its feature race.

The thought of Swayzee renewing his rivalry with Leap To Fame in Victoria is fantastic. Swayzee won their first clash in last year’s Blacks A Fake, but Leap To Fame won the next three, most recently in this year’s Blacks A Fake on July 27.

The Victoria Cup could also last year’s winner Act Now, who has only twice since and not since last November, return from the wilderness to defend his title.

He’s entertained a few fillies in between Cups.

And then there is Captain Ravishing (Captainteacherous).

He’s a polarizing pacer, but there’s no doubting his talent.

And he’s looked good winning both starts back from nine months on the sidelines.

We will get a much better line on him in Saturday week’s Smoken Up Sprint.

Sure it’s deep in Spring Racing Carnival time, but the thoroughbreds will struggle to put on a race with this depth of talent.

Bring on October 12.

by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing Victoria