Fate Awaits and Loader reunite for another Eureka crack

Fate Awaits (Always B Miki – For All We Know) will get a second shot at the $1.5 million TAB Eureka after being confirmed as the runner for the Western Jewel slot at Club Menangle on Saturday, November 21.

Five down, five to go. The Grant Dixon trained four-year-old becomes the fifth confirmed runner, meaning half the field is now set, with the remaining five slots to be filled before the naming deadline on Saturday, November 14. The news, first reported by Adam Hamilton, also confirms what HarnessLink’s slot analysis pointed to last month, when it identified Fate Awaits as one of the leading options for Western Jewel.

It is the second year in a row that Western Jewel’s Wayne Loader has done a deal with Fate Awaits’ owners, Kevin and Kay Seymour. Loader explained that when he secured the horse as a three-year-old last year, the two parties agreed he would have first option to take him again this year.

“I’m pleased we can team up again and hopefully get a better result,” Wayne Loader said.

The partnership has a regional connection too. Loader’s Western Jewel slot is built around supporting the western region of NSW, and Fate Awaits was bred in Forbes by Phil and Denise Thurston. Seymour said the two men shared a real passion for the sport, and that Fate Awaits suited Loader’s goals perfectly because he was born and raised in the area.

Fate Awaits already has two major Albion Park wins on his record: the $250,000 Protostar in July 2024 and the $300,000 Rising Sun in July 2025, when Trista Dixon drove him to become the first three-year-old to win the race.

Last year he finished ninth in the Eureka, beaten 9.2m, after starting at $12. He returns in strong form, with four wins and two seconds from his past six starts at Albion Park this spring. He won by 10.4m on September 12 with Trista Dixon driving, scored by 7.9m off a 20m handicap over 2647m on October 6 and won over 1660m on October 17, before running second, beaten 1.7m, at his last start on October 24.

This season he has won six of his 14 starts, with four seconds and a third. His career record stands at 15 wins, eight seconds and nine thirds from 39 starts for $821,937, with a best winning mile rate of 1:50.0, set at Menangle in October 2024. His final lead-up run is at Albion Park on Saturday night, in race 4 over 2138m from barrier one, with Jack Chapple driving.

Fate Awaits joins Loucasso (Rampant Standardbreds), Double Lou (The Don), Soho Charmer (Soho Standardbreds) and Bettor Beach (Harnesslink) in the field. The five slots still open are held by Team Zav, Solid Earth, Cordina Racing, Go Racing and Levarg Racing Group, with the Seymours’ own Solid Earth slot yet to be filled.

The next few days could reshape the race. Forty Love and Hesitate meet in tonight’s $100,000 The Bidgee at Riverina Paceway. On Saturday, Fate Awaits has his final lead-up at Albion Park, while at Menangle, Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin run six slot contenders and Eureka favourite Loucasso tests himself over 2300m. Then on Tuesday, the Dixon stable turns its attention to Leap To Fame in the New Zealand Cup.

Stay up to date with the latest in harness racing with HarnessLink, including featured coverage of The Eureka

 

From Harnesslink Media