From the Callers Box January ’24

ID23 has come and gone.

And what an incredibly special night we encountered on December 16, Grand Finals night with two deserving champions crowned.

Make no mistake, Leap To Fame and Just Believe were absolute standout performers throughout the series.

Larry & Harry.

Both clean swept their respective divisions, three heats and a final within a two-week window.

Scanning record books, that’s the first time both Grand Final heroes have achieved such a feat in the same series.

Leap To Fame became the first pacer since Ultimate Sniper (2019) to clean sweep a pacing series while Just Believe recorded back-to-back clean sweeps after achieving the feat last year in his home state of Victoria.

Under typical Queensland summer skies, we embraced the heat, humidity, and stormy conditions as we witnessed the country’s finest standardbred athletes strut their stuff as they chased the ultimate prize in harness racing.

And while it remains unclear if that was the last series staged at the famed Breakfast Creek oval, the winning efforts of Leap To Fame and Just Believe will be forever remembered.

For the young and elderly in attendance, these two champions burned an indelible impression in the minds of most, if not all that night.

Leap To Fame establishing a blistering speed over the marathon distance while moving an adoring crowd to their feet as he scorched away with an unassailable lead passing the 400m marker.

In the straight, the crowd roared for their local champion as he became just the second (Blacks A Fake, 4 times winner) Queensland trained star to win the famed event.

The rare show of emotion from Grant Dixon as he neared the finish line underlined the enormity of what was being achieved.

It was his fifth drive in a Grand Final.

And a crowning moment for Grant and Trista Dixon.

So, the obvious question moving forward is – How do we build on this current momentum?

The Inter Dominion is the heartbeat of the industry, and to have another Queensland champion is something that shouldn’t be wasted.

We’ve been down this path previously with Blacks A Fake, let’s learn from that error and really build something around Leap To Fame.

2024 is going to be an enormous year for the equine powerhouse, the Hunter Cup, Miracle Mile, Brisbane Constellations and obviously a title defense of his Inter Dominion crown are all obvious targets.

Let’s sell him to the masses, shout his name from the rooftops and make sure everyone knows who ‘Larry’ is and what code he belongs to because time moves quickly, and we can ill afford to let this opportunity slip (again).

It’s now official, Larry is a legend so let’s get on the hype train.

Until next time.