Harness
Australian Harness Racing Preview – Saturday, 17th January 2026
Established champ Leap To Fame and his heir apparent Kingman will renew their rivalry in an intriguing edition of the Shepparton Gold Cup on Saturday night.
The race has drawn just five acceptors and looks essentially a match race with the two pacers regarded by many as the best in the land rating well clear of their rivals.
The pair clashed twice late last year and it was the young gun Kingman who upset the superstar, beating Leap To Fame in both the Victoria Cup and the New Zealand Cup.
He gets the ace draw at Shepparton and Leap To Fame draws just two spots wider so the race could pan into a battle of tactics between their trainer/drivers Luke McCarthy and Grant Dixon respectively.
Leap To Fame has been campaigning in his home town of Brisbane since their Addington clash, nosed out in a brave and luckless second in the Blacks A Fake in December and easily beating inferior rivals in two outings since.
Those hitouts have kept him ticking over so he'll go into the clash fit and the draw will give Dixon options.
Kingman comes off a defeat in last week's Bendigo Cup but the effort had merit as he drew on the back row and was beaten for speed when the sprint went on over the 1720m journey but he worked to the line nicely for third.
It was his first start for seven weeks so the hitout will have improved him and the step up to 2680m should suit as his Victoria and New Zealand Cup defeats of Leap To Fame came over 2240m and 3200m respectively.
It's also a small field for the Shepparton Trotters Cup with six runners and the absence of star mare Keayang Zahara gives the two rivals that chased her home last week their chance to put a win on the board.
Arcee Phoenix couldn't match the brilliant mare at Melton last Saturday but he was far from disgraced when 5.2m behind her with Im Bobby just over 4m further back.
Arcee Phoenix hasn't won since last July's Inter Dominion final but his Maori Mile performance – his first outing for two months – suggested he has come back in good order.
Im Bobby hasn't missed the top three this time in and will be close to his peak fourth up. The step up to 2690m should suit as he came from a 30m handicap for a resuming second over 2760m at Melton three back.
Gotfeelingsyouknow looks a chance to upset that pair after a string of seconds. He has 10m to make up on Im Bobby through their clash last month but he did a good job in chasing star mare Jilliby Ballerini home over 2760m in last week's Bendigo Cup.
Accomplished former Kiwi mare Captains Mistress will have to overcome a wider draw if she is to follow up her dominant win of last week in Saturday night's New Years Gift Final at Menangle.
The Group 1 winner started a hot favourite in her heat last week in what was her first outing for new trainer Jason Grimson and was a class above her rivals, taking advantage of a low draw to lead before cruising home by close to 19m.
She'll start five spots wider on Saturday if emergencies come out but that victory was her first outing for a month so it should have improved her and she is being targeted at much bigger races at the upcoming autumn carnival.
Her biggest rival could come from within the Grimson stable. Still Rollin was also having his first start for the yard when he led from the middle of the line for a resuming win in last week's heat. He should be better for it and can take advantage of the ace draw on Saturday.
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