Lucky Matty Craven is a patient man.

For the abundance of talent pacer Fides has, he would have gotten to the bottom of most trainers.

But Craven, with the support of the passionate Lewis clan, who owns much of Fides, refused to give up.

The rematch is on.

As much as it was great to have pacing sensation stick around after the Hunter Cup and go to Cranbourne, the thing most people left Hunter Cup night wanting was to see Just Believe try and get revenge on Callmethebreeze.

Their epic stoush in Australia’s biggest trotting race – the Group 1 Great Southern Star – stole the show.

Superstar trotter Just Believe has bounced out of a rare and brave defeat and is raring to go again.

Trainer Jess Tubbs, who justifiably oozed pride in his fighting second to exciting European import Callmethebreeze in last Saturday night’s Great Southern Star, confirmed a rematch was on the cards in the $75,000 Group 1 Grand Prix at Melton on February 24.

Popular trainer David Aiken has a million reasons for staying in Victoria longer and taking on champion pacer Leap To Fame in Saturday night's $100,000 Group 2 Cranbourne Cup.

Aiken, who will move to spend most of his time training out of Menangle, decided to postpone the move a few days after his stable star Max Delight ran a slashing third to Leap To Fame in last Saturday night's $500,000 Hunter Cup.

As star mare Encipher recovers from a broken leg, owner-breeder Tyson Linke is looking ahead to her next chapter.

Linke confirmed the five-year-old had run her last race after last week’s successful surgery on a broken pastern sustained during her win in the Group 2 Alabar Bloodstock Ladyship Cup at Melton on January 27.

Leap To Fame's most important win yet has earned him an extension to his Victorian raid.

The Queensland sensation added the iconic $500,000 Group 1 Hunter Cup at Melton last night to his Inter Dominion crown, taking another step towards greatness.

Top race caller Dan Mielicki rates Leap To Fame potentially one of the greatest pacers he has seen heading into his 29^th call of the Group 1 Hunter Cup.

Mielicki, who has also called 14 Melbourne Cups, said the combination of Leap To Fame and champion trotter Just Believe placed tomorrow night’s Hunter Cup card up with the strongest he has covered.

Top driver Nathan Jack says buzz European import Callmethebreeze gives him a "wicked" feel.

Jack was thrilled with the French-bred trotter's Aussie debut when an eye-catching second to champion Just Believe in the Group 2 Knight Pistol at Ballarat last Saturday week.

And Jack expects "quite some improvement" from Callmethebreeze when he tackles the first of two Great Southern Star heats at Melton on Saturday night.

The Great Southern Star has been run just 11 times and nobody has built its profile more than Andy and Kate Gath.

The power couple have won four of the 11 runnings, including four of the past seven.

It started with Glenferrie Typhoon in 2017, then champion Tornado Valley went back-to-back in 2020 and 2021.

Jess Tubbs hopes that Hunter Cup week finishes better than it started.

A couple of awful draws have made life much harder for Tubbs' stable stars, Just Believe and Better Eclipse, in their respective feature races.

Tubbs conceded Just Believe's gate nine – against Queen Elida (four) and Arcee Phoenix (three) – potentially made the race his biggest challenge since returning from Sweden.

Luck is finally starting to turn for Australia's best pacer, Leap To Fame, in the biggest races.

After being plagued by awful barrier draws for so long, the Queensland sensation drew almost ideally in gate six for Saturday night's $450,000 Group 1 Hunter Cup (2760m) at Melton. He will move into five if the emergency Cantfindabettorman doesn't get a start from one.

Victorian fans could see more of Australia’s top pacer Leap To Fame than expected.

In what could be an absolute coup, trainer-driver Grant Dixon confirmed he was “certainly looking seriously” at staying a week longer in Victoria for the $100,000 Group 2 Cranbourne Cup on February 10.

Champion Kiwi trainer Mark Purdon thinks his young star Don’t Stop Dreaming can give him a third Hunter Cup win.

Purdon won Victoria’s biggest race with Smolda in 2016 and Lazarus in 2018 and has a big opinion of Don’t Stop Dreaming ahead of next Saturday night’s $450,000 Group 1 feature at Melton.

Champion Kiwi horseman Mark Purdon has built much of his stellar career around pillaging Victoria’s biggest races.

The pandemic put a halt on things, but Purdon will return to Melton for the first time in four years with his exciting young pacer Dont Stop Dreaming on Saturday night.

Purdon was to have his best pacers at the meeting, but top seed Akuta sustained a leg injury last week and severity won’t be known until late next week.

Team McCarthy is adding its class to the $450,000 Group 1 Hunter Cup.

Co-trainer Luke McCarthy confirmed stable stars Spirit Of St Louis and Cantfindabettorman would both head to Melbourne for Victoria’s biggest and most famous race.

The two brightest stars of harness racing, Leap To Fame and Just Believe, are set to light up Victoria's biggest meeting, Hunter Cup, at Melton on Saturday week.

The glamour pair are both on six-race winning streaks and odds-on favourites in pre-post markets to win their respective Melton targets.

​​​​​Champion driver Chris Alford can’t split them.

Asked the best horse he’s driven through a stellar 40-year career and as he nears an historic 8000^th career win, Alford said Golden Reign and Lennytheshark share top billing.

Trainer Andy Gath is thrilled with Miracle Mile winner Catch A Wave, but knows how tomorrow night’s $100,000 Ballarat Cup is run could dictate his chances.

The five-year-old is first-up since winning the Breeders Crown 4YO final at Melton on November 18, which was his 19^th win from just 30 starts.

“Even though it was a late decision to run, I’m glad we are,” Gath said. “It wasn’t just the times he ran in the (Melton) trial Monday, but the way he ran past two quality horses and hit the line.