Members of the crowd react as Australian horse Arcee Phoenix wins
Australian harness racing breeder-owner, administrator and benefactor Kevin Seymour praised Cambridge Raceway management and staff for the way they looked after him and his horse last week.
Leap to Fame wins at the Night of Champions, Cambridge Raceway. Photo: Megan Liefting.
Leap to Fame, in the hands of trainer-driver Grant Dixon, took out the $1 million The Race at the Night of Champions on Friday night and in doing so smashed the track and New Zealand record over 2200m.
For the thousands at the track, it was a chance to see one of those very few legendary horses that have graced the Raceway. The six-year-old Queensland pacer nicknamed Larry now has 50 wins from 63 starts and his first in New Zealand.
Alfie stands guard in Leap to Fame’s box before the start of The Race. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
But Seymour turned the tables and thanked the Raceway for hosting such an iconic event, for treating him and his fellow connections so well and for looking after Alfie – Larry’s best friend and constant travelling companion who proudly wears a horse cover saying Security Guard.
He shares a stable with Larry to calm him down before he races.
“I don’t know whether you really realise the importance of the way you look after the connections. If you want to get return visits from owners and trainers, you’re certainly going about it the right way,” he said after the race.
“I don’t know whether this is the best race meeting in New Zealand but it’s certainly an iconic event. It’s right up there with the top prizemoney and if you look at the calibre of horses that raced here tonight. Amazing. If you looked anywhere in Australia or Australasia, you wouldn’t get a better field of horses competing in the one event. That’s a tribute to the sponsorship and support of the industry.”
Bettors Anvil (8) with driver Tim Williams, parades in front of the crowd before the colt’s win in race 6 at the Night of Champions in Cambridge. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Dorothy Cutts with the Australian sponsors who support the women’s invitational race run in her name, from left: Andrew Fitzgerald, Joshua Davine, Braeden Howlett and Ralph Smith. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Another star on the night was Dorothy Cutts, the first woman in harness racing to win a full totalisator race in New Zealand, when she drove Kenworthy to victory at Cambridge in 1979.
Cutts, from Morrinsville, was on hand to congratulate South Island driver Kimberly Butt who drove Ohoka Achilles to victory in the Dorothy Cutts Ladies Invitational race. And she was still around several races later to see Cambridge driver Nicky Chilcott win her 700th race.
Joshua Davine from sponsor N40 Racing said he got behind the event because he realised how important women were in the industry.
The sponsorship allowed South Island women drivers to travel north for the meeting, said the prominent Australian businessman who has interests in several New Zealand horses, some of them trained by Butt in Canterbury.
“It was an easy decision, we wanted to do what we could to support the Night of Champions. What more could we do to support The Race but to support the fantastic horsewomen,” said Davine.
South Island driver Kimberly Butt won the Dorothy Cutts Ladies Invitational race for female drivers on Ohoka Achilles and was congratulated by Dorothy herself. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Members of the crowd react as Australian horse Arcee Phoenix wins The Trot feature race. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
