Skip to main navigation Skip to main content

Dashman's harness look ahead - January 31

31 January 2025

Share this page

Share on a platform

Or copy the page link

LEAP TO FAME Next Racing
BRONSKI ZULU Next Racing
DELE ROW Next Racing
THE MIGHTY SULLY NZ Next Racing

Look ahead to this weekend's harness racing action in our weekly preview, thanks to Darren Clayton.

 

The 2025 Grand Circuit commences this weekend with the running of the A.G. Hunter Cup at Melton, with many pundits suggesting it is the deepest open class race for many years.

Boasting seven individual Group 1 winners and six individual $1 million earners, it is a tough point to argue.

The Queensland champion, Leap To Fame, is chasing a historic second successive Hunter Cup as he also chases a third successive title as Grand Circuit champion.

Closer to home, Albion Park will host eight race fixtures on Friday and Saturday nights, with a number of exciting races to be held on Saturday’s metropolitan card.

 

GET ON

Borsellino and Nathan Dawson.

Starting from gate one in the fifth race at 'The Creek' on Saturday, the five-year-old looks to have found the same set up as his last start victory.

Trailing the leader and sprinting hard to reel them in when winning last start, the same pattern looks set to emerge on Saturday.

From gate one, he can tuck in behind the action and when the gaps arrive in the stretch, 'The Postman' can deliver the 'W'.

Champion pacer Leap To Fame.

'LARRY' CHASING MORE RECORDS

Leap To Fame starts the defence of his Grand Circuit crown when Melton hosts the first leg of the championship on Saturday night when the 2025 A.G. Hunter Cup will be decided.

After claiming the 2023 and 2024 titles, Leap To Fame will be looking to emulate King Of Swing who secured a three-peat as the champion from 2020 through 2022.

Ironically, if Leap To Fame is able to overcome a tricky inside second line barrier in the Hunter Cup, the $142,500 winners’ purse will see Leap To Fame surpass the career earnings of King Of Swing and move into the top five of all-time earners.

No horse has been able to win successive Hunter Cups since the mighty Blossom Lady went back-to-back in 1994 and 1995, proving just how tough the race is to win.

The task will be even harder for 'Larry', as he will start from inside the second line, providing Grant Dixon with plenty to ponder heading into the race.

With good speed drawn off the front, it will take some Dixon magic for Leap To Fame to find space and claim a 47th race victory.

Inter Dominion Champion Don Hugo looks well placed to give Luke McCarthy a third win in the race alongside his victories with King Of Swing and Bling It On.

Reigning Victoria Cup champion, Swayzee, will be looking to join an elite list of horses that have won both of Victoria’s Grand Circuit features, that list including Lazarus, Bling It On, Mr Feelgood and Blacks A Fake.

Races

1
1

Albion Park | Albion Park Harness Racing Club | 5:42 PM

LADBROKES RACING CLUB QUALIFYING PACE

Prize money

$20,770

RACE ONE AT 'THE CREEK' IS A CRACKER

The opening race at Queensland’s harness racing headquarters this Saturday night shapes as an absolute cracker.

With five last-start winners and strength right across the 10 runners, it is one of the strongest qualifying races for some time at 'The Creek'.

Having the choice of partnering either Jamaican Rock or Dele Row, Pete McMullen may have given a guide with 'Leader Pete' opting to take the reins on Jamaican Rock.

A winner at his only appearance in Queensland, McMullen partnered the five-year-old to an effortless victory in a slick 1.52.7 rate back on December 20.

Freshened since that win, he was at the trials on January 21 where he looked sharp in a 26.5 second last 400 metres.

Dele Row will be partnered by trainer Chantal Turpin this week, following his last-start win when resuming with a smart all the way victory in 1.52.4, highlighted by an effortless 54.5 second last 800 metres.

Runner-up to Bronski Zulu in his last start as a three-year-old in the Group 1 Triad, Dele Row has also been back to the trials last week where he was under four metres from his stablemate Wisper A Secret.

Bronski Zulu will also line up on Saturday night from barrier four, while the impressive The Mighty Sully will be chasing a hat-trick of wins at 'The Creek'.

The Daren Garrard-trained five-year-old The Mighty Sully faces a tricky barrier from gate five.

Trent Dawson’s stable star For Real Life.

FOR REAL LIFE BACK IN ACTION

Trent Dawson’s stable star will have his first appearance of the season on Saturday evening in the third event. 

Last seen when claiming the Triad trilogy with a victory in the four-year-old QBRED feature to add to his Group 1 wins at two and three years of age, For Real Life has been to the trials twice in readiness for his return.

The second of the trials was particularly sharp when running Wisper A Secret to a half-length, working home strongly off speed where the leader zipped through the last half in 54.8 seconds.

A winner at 15 of his 30 starts, he will need to overcome some hardened free-for-all performers first-up.

The evergreen veteran, Northview Hustler, has drawn to receive the perfect trip behind the speed, a pattern that is right in his wheelhouse.

The Shane Fraser-trained Manila Playboy will also resume from a spell after a shortened 2024 season where he raced on just nine occasions for one win and four minor placings.

 

RQH-DashmanDashboard-01022025-1.jpg