Leading Charm Production in the Interacting Gluon Model

We discuss leading charm production in connection with energy deposition in the central rapidity region. Special attention is given to the correlation between production in central and fragmentation regions. If the fraction of the reaction energy released in the central region increases the asymmetry in the $x_F$ distributions of charmed mesons will become smaller. We illustrate this quantitatively with simple calculations performed using the Interacting Gluon Model. Leading beauty production is also considered.