Catch up on the week's harness racing action in our weekly review, thanks to Darren Clayton.
LEAP TO FAME STANDS ALONE
Albion Park was set alight on Saturday night when Leap To Fame secured his 33rd victory at 'The Creek' and 49th of his career with a scorching mile.
Eased off the arm in the early stages as Catseye Beach held the front from the inside gate, Grant Dixon sent his champion forward at the 1200 metre mark.
He was forced to sit parked from that point as the leader held the running.
After an opening quarter in 26.6 seconds and a second split of 28.3 seconds, there was no respite down the back as Leap To Fame continued to pour on the pressure with a 27.3 second third split.
Edging his way to the front between bends, Leap To Fame extended and ran the final 400 metres in a sizzling 26.6 seconds.
He stopped the clock in a mid-boggling 1.48.6-mile rate, taking 0.6 off the previous track record held by Duke Of Scotland.
Flexing with the dominant victory, the 23.3-metre margin over the second-placed Jimartee was the biggest winning margin that Leap To Fame has recorded in his 62-start career.
Adding the sprint trip record to his name, Leap To Fame now holds the Albion Park track record at 1660, 2138 and 2680 metres, along with the 2647 metre standing start record.
The six-year-old will held to New Zealand later this week, ready for another showdown with his Miracle Mile conqueror, Don Hugo.
BRENDAN AND BERRIESANDCHERRIES
Cyclone Alfred may have delayed the arrival of Berriesandcherries into Brisbane, but that did not stop the mare winning first-up for trainer and driver Brendan Barnes in the Our Overanova Trotters Marathon.
Safely away from the front tape, the eight-year-old released to race favourite Hide And Seek in the early stages and from there secured the perfect trail over the 3157 metre journey.
With 600 metres left to travel, Hide And Seek was under pressure from Golden Sunset, who had moved up to the leader, allowing plenty of space for Barnes to angle away from the trail.
Biding time as Golden Sunset ran to the front at the 400 metre mark, Barnes angled off and his mare responded in the stretch to run to the lead and claim victory over Golden Sunset, with Love Gun finishing hard out of the pack for third place.
Stopping the clock in a 2.01.5-mile rate, the win shaved 0.3 seconds off the 3157 metre track record which was held by Kingdom Come following his win in the race last year.
The win also took Berriesandcherries beyond $150,000 in stake earnings, with the win extra special for the Barnes family.
The mare is owned under the title of Balmain Lodge, which is run by Geoff Barnes.
The victory was the first starter that Brendan had prepared for his grandfather.
KASH PREFERRED
Gemma Hewitt enjoyed a successful 90 minute window of racing on Friday night following the performances of Kash Tin and Kash Fund across two states.
At Albion Park, Kash Tin was rewarded for his consistent form when securing victory from the second line.
Sent forward from a wide second line draw over the 2138 metre journey, the five-year-old sat parked and pulled clear in the stretch for a tough win.
Just under 90 minutes later, Kash Fund contested a heat of the Bathurst Gold Crown from inside the second line where he was soon shuffled to three back in the run.
Driven by Brendan Barnes, the Sweet Lou half-brother to Kash Tin, set out after the leader and hit the line nicely to grab second place and book a spot in this Saturday’s $150,000 Final, where he has drawn barrier four.
Both pacers are out of the wonderful producing broodmare Laughing Lilly.
Laughing Lilly has been instrumental in the success of the Gemma Hewitt stable with her legacy far from over.
CONSTELLATIONS CONTENDERS
Dele Row continued the great start to his four-year-old term with another victory on Saturday night, taking his season to four wins from five starts.
Starting an odds-on favourite, the Chantal Turpin-trained gelding took another step towards the Constellations Carnival when defeating a strong field which included proven open class performers, Turn It Up and Tims A Trooper, in the Lou Cini Memorial.
The Rising Sun is a potential target for the talented gelding, who has now won 10 races and placed on 12 occasions from just 28 starts.
Another Rising Sun hopeful, Timmy Rictor, continued his renaissance at Menangle on Saturday night with a 1.49.2 victory in the Autumn Gift Final.
A winner in five of six starts during his two-year-old season when prepared by Emma Stewart, which included a clean sweep of the Breeders Crown, the son of Modern Art missed the entire three-year-old season.
Transferred to the Jason Grimson stable, Saturday’s win pushed his career stake earnings beyond $200,000.
At Melton, two trot races had potential Inter Dominion form references.
Im Ready Jet and Arcee Phoenix were successful in the Group 1 Sumthingaboutmaori and Scotch Notch Memorial respectively.
Both trotters will now head to New Zealand for the Cambridge Trot Slot event on April 4.
THE WEEK AHEAD
A total of seven straight days of harness racing are on the card for the week ahead in Queensland, starting with a Monday night fixture from Redcliffe.
The Queensland Young Drivers Championship will be held across the week, with two heats from each of Redcliffe, Albion Park and Marburg.
Racing at Albion Park will see eight races on Tuesday afternoon, followed by a Friday night meeting and then Saturday will be highlighted by the Final of the Jim McNeill Trotting Championship.
The week rounds out with Marburg hosting a Sunday afternoon meeting that will see the final two heats of the Queensland Young Drivers Championship decided.
