A TALE OF TWO HORSES
This is a tale of two horses.
They have both impacted their respective codes in a way not seen for quite some years.
One is named Pride of Jenni.
The other is named Leap to Fame.
One is a thoroughbred, one is a standardbred.
On Saturday, Pride of Jenni gave racing one of the biggest shots in the arm ever. A tearaway leader usually goes like the clappers for most of the race and then fades like a pricked balloon. Jenni didn’t. She kept going… and going…… and won by six and a half lengths.
Now ordinarily, if a horse wins ANY race by that margin, people are in raptures….. Darren called it a demolition… and that is what it was.
We should celebrate it. It was sensational! And this horse is not a plodder who had a day out….. have a look at the mare’s recent form, then add in an All Star Mile, which was also an eased up thrashing.
1st 2024 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr.1); 2023 Kennedy Champions Mile (Gr.1); 2023 TAB Empire Rose Stakes (Gr.1); 2nd 2024 Tab Australian Cup (Gr.1); 2024 Sportsbet C.F. Orr Stakes (Gr.1); 2023 Coolmore Classic (Gr.1); 2023 Ladbrokes Stocks Stakes (Gr.2); 2021 Rose Of Kingston Stakes (Gr.2); 2020 World Horse Racing Stks (LR); 3rd 2022 Lexus Tristarc Stakes (Gr.2);
We now find her at No.2 worldwide on the TRC Global Rankings behind only Golden Sixty…. Great news for Australian Racing….. yes?
But no…. let’s play the blame game. Blame the other jockeys. Blame the track. Blame the gatekeeper if you like….. the reality? The best horse won in a way that only she can.
Craig Williams copped it. The Racenet horse rustler suggested he be suspended….. really? A big name trainer was amazingly ungracious for someone who is seen as a walking ad for racing as a rule…. What the?
And the future? The racing world will be watching in the spring…. Yes watching and following the Cup, the Everest, the carnivals… and what will be the biggest drawcard? Pride of Jenni…. Whenever and wherever. So it is imperative that racing milks it. Promotes the hell out of the fact that we have a new idol.
There is no need to commiserate, au contraire…… congratulate and celebrate. She is a star! Let’s enjoy it.
And now Leap to Fame. Same level, different code, different kettle.
CAREER STATS
OVERVIEW STAKES WIN RATE PLACE RATE FORM
LIFETIME 45-35-6-2 $2,765,957 77% 95% -
THIS SEASON 6-6-0-0 $968,575 100% 100% 1 1 1 1 1
LAST SEASON 16-12-2-1 $1,275,970 75% 93% 1 1 1 1 1
The triple crown…. Hunter Cup, Inter Dominion, Miracle Mile. Been done once before, by the colossus Preux Chevalier 39 years go. Leap to Fame did it in the December and January just gone. Second time ever. History created. Albion Park came alive, so did Melton. So did Menangle? Why? Leap to Fame. Not that hard to work out…..
No petty jealousy or interstate rivalry here. Celebrate and congratulate.
But now what?
Leap to Fame will be back. In Brisbane. At Albion Park.. oh yes… Albion Park, the off again on again centre of harness racing. But now it is on again!
Here is THE golden opportunity, one that may not present for a long time…. To milk it. To promote the sport, to invite people to see a champion, to bring to the sporting public a champion worth seeing and thereby putting the trots back in the minds of many, new old and curious.
The shambolic Olympic soap opera in Queensland has a nice little silver lining for the trots. There is a track, an inner city track, an easily accessible venue with significant untested potential since maybe the turn of the century.
So… what to do? Well there are plenty of options. Real options, not political ones, not selfish ones, but options to resurrect the sport, expand the sport and certainly make more people aware of the appeal of the sport.
Actions and options:
• Lobby, lobby like never before, get a commitment from the industry heavyweights, the participants and of course, the government.
• Lobby Miles and Crisafulli, particularly the latter. He will be premier by the time the wheels get to turn for any new infrastructure, so he is the prime target.
• Find out who is likely to be racing minister after October and hammer hammer hammer! Either side!
• Form a marketing arm that is out there, in your face and obvious. Advertise everywhere you can.
• Syndicate! Works in thoroughbreds so well that sometimes there are a couple of hundred extra people at the track because they each own a couple of nose hairs of a horse, just to watch it run!
• Clean the joint up (Albion Park), now that it has a future, make it appealing.
• Value add with packages for local business, particularly pubs and clubs. Share packages with them, reciprocal benefits and memberships.
• Align programs with Marburg and Redcliffe, bonus races across all three venues. Collectively this can engage and include all classes of horse.
• Stump up the integrity a bit. Transparency creates interest and trust. When was the last time you saw a running and handling charge (anywhere) in Harness Racing? Make the swabbing uniform, whatever the cost.
• Promote the people. A Family sport involving many key families. The names can be promoted just as easily as the horses and races. The antithesis of hearing say a name like Yole in Tassie. Positives win every time.
So some of these are fanciful, yes, but how to send the message in the first instance?
Simple – Leap To Fame is the signature horse of the entire industry at the moment. Make him famous, (he already is but not to the public at large).
Just like Pride of Jenni. Her excellence can be milked.
So can Leap to Fame’s.
It could save the sport.
Worth a shot? Nothing to lose.