Crossword Genius

Leading, with the hurdle race nearly over (3,4,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

one jump ahead

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'leading with the hurdle race nearly over' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'leading with the hurdle race nearly over' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'leading' could be 'head' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'head' is located in the answer.
'hurdle' could be 'jumpa' (synonyms) and 'jumpa' is present in the answer.
'over' could be 'on' (physically on top of) and 'on' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'e' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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