Dixon warms up for Inter Dominion with Albion Park domination
Despite Leap To Fame having a night off, Dixon and wife, Trista, flexed their muscle with a feature treble at Albion Park last night.
Leap To Fame, who is already two-from-two this campaign, will be back to cap his Inter Dominion preparation at Albion Park next Saturday night.
Team Dixon snared the quinella in last night's feature, the Flashing Red Discretionary, when Aroda led throughout with Trista aboard to bet Charge Ahead.
Aroda's next target will be a title defence in the $106,070 Group 2 Redcliffe Cup on June 28 before the Inter Dominion starts at Albion Park a week later.
• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
Earlier, Dixon's exciting three-year-old Path To Greatness landed a huge plunge ($5.50 into $1.70) to lead throughout and easily win the Queensland Sun.
The win secured the gelding a start in the $350,000 Group 1 Rising Sun at Albion Park on July 5.
Path To Greatness, who boasts seven wins from just 13 starts, beat stablemate Charge Ahead to give Team Dixon another quinella.
The most exciting win of the night came from Team Dixon's recent stable addition, Captains Mistress.
The glamour Kiwi filly toyed with older rivals to win by 9.1m in a slick 1min53.1sec mile rate for 1660m.
Her major target is the Group 1 Queensland Oaks.
The one minor disappointment of the night for the stable came when prepost Queensland Derby favourite Fate Awaits had to be content with third place behind exciting Kiwi raider, Rubira, in race nine.
Rubira gave Kiwi Hall of Fame trainer Mark Purdon, who trains in partnership with son Nathan, part of a perfect start to their Queensland raid.
Earlier, their star trotter Oscar Bonavena toyed with his rivals to win and stamp himself as a major player for the Inter Dominion trotting series.
Rubira has the South-East and Redcliffe Derbys before the Group 1 Rising Sun on July 5 and the Group 1 Queensland Derby on July 19.
'It was great to get wins with them both because they needed the runs and will take improvement from them,' Nathan Purdon said.
Champion NSW trainer Luke McCarthy will launch his Queensland raid from next week after stars Don Hugo and Hesitate won impressively at Menangle last night.
Miracle Mile and Inter Dominion winner Don Hugo has easily won both starts this campaign and looms as the only serious danger to Leap To Fame in the Inter Dominion pacing series.
Hesitate is likely to head to the Queensland Derby via the Rising Sun.
'I'll have a nice team in Brisbane for a month or so,' McCarthy said.
The Queensland flavour extended to Melton last night where trainer-driver Chris Svanosio confirmed and impressive win by his US-bred trotting mare Aldebaran Acrux had booked her a trip to the Inter Dominion.
She will accompany star stablemate Arcee Phoenix, who returns from a break at Melton next Saturday night.
• Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp.
Originally published as Grant Dixon warms up for 2025 Inter Dominion with Albion Park domination
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Australian
an hour ago
- The Australian
Treasurethe Moment targets Spring glory in Caulfield Cup campaign
Trainer Matt Laurie is excited to unleash Caulfield Cup-nominated Group 1 star Treasurethe Moment against Australia's best equine talent in the Melbourne spring carnival. Treasurethe Moment, set to jumpout at Mornington on Wednesday, 'achieved everything we set her for' last season, with three Group 1 wins including Oaks in Melbourne and Sydney. 'Hopefully she can continue on and we'll be able to nail a Group 1 against the older bracket,' Laurie said. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! 'She's got such a great win record, it's going to be very interesting to see how she handles herself against this next lot of opposition.' Treasurethe Moment will audition for the Caulfield Cup or Cox Plate with Group 1 performances in the Memsie Stakes, Makybe Diva Stakes and Turnbull Stakes. 'She's a star and I'm looking forward to the next preparation,' Laurie said. 'We placed her to win (three-year-old fillies Group 1 targets) and she delivered and we're obviously here to carry on winning but we have to be a bit realistic about it. Treasurethe Moment winning the Australian Oaks. Picture: Getty Images 'We're going to be coming up against some wonderful horses, so we'll see where we stand. 'She's going to have to take some big steps but she looks like the horse that might be capable of doing it.' Treasurethe Moment cut a striking figure on Tuesday at Laurie's picturesque Carringbush Park in Moorooduc. 'She certainly couldn't look any better at this stage of her preparation,' Laurie beamed. 'Most of the horses are still sporting a pretty wintry looking coat, she basically looks as though she's well into the spring already.' • Japan stint has jet-setting Dee primed to sprinkle some spring 'magic' Treasurethe Moment is equal $11 all-in favourite for the Caulfield Cup and $8 third elect in Cox Plate markets. Laurie deferred the ultimate Caulfield Cup-Cox Plate decision to Yulong billionaire owner-breeder Yuesheng Zhang but said the former could be the 'better target' based on track suitability and opposition strength. 'I think whichever way we went she'd be suitable, in anything we targeted,' Laurie said. 'She's an ultimate talent. We'll make our decision as we get further into the prep.' The Caulfield Cup has attracted 146 nominations, while the Cox Plate received 108 entries. Gilbert Gardiner Sports reporter Gilbert Gardiner is a sports reporter for the Herald Sun and Sunday Herald Sun. @gilbertgardiner Gilbert Gardiner
The Australian
an hour ago
- The Australian
Japan stint has jet-setting Dee primed to sprinkle some spring magic
Group 1 jockey Michael Dee could fulfil Australian and international ambitions with another strong domestic season. Dee started with a feature Flemington double last Saturday, only his second meeting back after two months riding in Japan. Dee spent a month in Europe and UK to recharge before the Australian season. He moved to 15 career Group 1 wins last season, with a second Blue Diamond Stakes success and a special homecoming New Zealand Derby triumph. The Kiwi expat could build on the tally early in the spring with Magic Time aimed at the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) next month. Dee piloted Magic Time to victory in the 2023 Sir Rupert Clarke and 2024 All Aged Stakes. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! The 29-year-old rode 32 winners in Melbourne last season at a healthy 13 per cent strike rate. Dee has the lure of a three-month contract to ride in Japan next year but success on the home front matters most right now. 'It's not set in stone (next year), depends how everything goes,' Dee said. 'If I'm having an absolute pearler of a season here, this season, it would probably be very beneficial for me to go back there. 'They travel their horses everywhere and their horses always can compete at the highest level when they go anywhere … they go to Dubai, Saudi, Kentucky, everywhere. READ: Bulked-up Private Harry to unveil new look in Everest 'If I was lucky enough to go back and pick something up … you never know.' Bold Soul was the first of a winning double for Michael Dee at Flemington on Saturday Picture: Brett Holburt/Racing Photos via Getty Images Dee, or any other Australian jockey, need not look far for inspiration with globetrotter Damian Lane the toast of Japanese racing and fans alike. Lane has ridden 177 winners the past six years in Japan including six Grade 1 triumphs. The success and connections has led to Lane riding Japanese horses to victory abroad in Australia, Hong Kong and the Middle East. 'He's (Lane) basically got the pick of the rides really (in Japan),' Dee said. 'He's almost the Zac Purton of Hong Kong in Japan, he's been there a fair few times now and built his connections. 'Whereas myself, it's tough in two months to properly build connections ... it should be better next time I go.' READ: Vandyke eyes first Victorian spring foray since Alligator Blood heroics Dee, who rode five winners in Japan from 130 starters and placed on 20 occasions, appreciated the life and career experience. 'It's hard to explain how different it is (Japanese racing) unless you've actually been there,' Dee said. 'Everything you could think of is just different. How they train, the surfaces they run on, track work, race day, everything is different. 'I had to adapt coming from here to there, tweak how they run races and their horses and style of running, it's not very similar to here (as) races are run different (faster tempo). Michael Dee after winning the 2022 Victoria Derby aboard Manzoice Picture:'I've certainly learned a lot, whether I can bring a lot of that here, I'm sure, we'll soon find out.' Dee experienced the racing fandom in Japan firsthand with picture requests at airports and like. 'They treat their jockeys like we would (AFL) footballers or something like that, probably even more so,' Dee said. Dee has two rides at Sandown on Wednesday with Mr Independent in race two while Laa De Sha contests race eight. Gilbert Gardiner Sports reporter Gilbert Gardiner is a sports reporter for the Herald Sun and Sunday Herald Sun. @gilbertgardiner Gilbert Gardiner
News.com.au
16 hours ago
- News.com.au
Treasurethe moments: Laurie eyes spring carnival success with Group 1 star
Trainer Matt Laurie is excited to unleash Caulfield Cup-nominated Group 1 star Treasurethe Moment against Australia's best equine talent in the Melbourne Spring Carnival. Treasurethe Moment, set to jumpout at Mornington on Wednesday, 'achieved everything we set her for' last season, with three Group 1 wins including Oaks in Melbourne and Sydney. 'Hopefully she can continue on and we'll be able to nail a Group 1 against the older bracket,' Laurie said. 'She's got such a great win record, it's going to be very interesting to see how she handles herself against this next lot of opposition.' Treasurethe Moment will audition for the Caulfield Cup or Cox Plate with Group 1 performances in the Memsie Stakes, Makybe Diva Stakes and Turnbull Stakes. 'She's a star and I'm looking forward to the next preparation,' Laurie said. 'We placed her to win (three-year-old fillies Group 1 targets) and she delivered and we're obviously here to carry on winning but we have to be a bit realistic about it. 'We're going to be coming up against some wonderful horses, so we'll see where we stand. 'She's going to have to take some big steps but she looks like the horse that might be capable of doing it.' Treasurethe Moment cut a striking figure on Tuesday at Laurie's picturesque Carringbush Park in Moorooduc. 'She certainly couldn't look any better at this stage of her preparation,' Laurie beamed. 'Most of the horses are still sporting a pretty wintry looking coat, she basically looks as though she's well into the spring already.' Treasurethe Moment is equal $11 all-in favourite for the Caulfield Cup and $8 third elect in Cox Plate markets. Laurie deferred the ultimate Caulfield Cup-Cox Plate decision to Yulong billionaire owner-breeder Yuesheng Zhang but said the former could be the 'better target' based on track suitability and opposition strength. 'I think whichever way we went she'd be suitable, in anything we targeted,' Laurie said. 'She's an ultimate talent. We'll make our decision as we get further into the prep.' The Caulfield Cup has attracted 146 nominations, while the Cox Plate received 108 entries.
