Lazarus primed for a big 2025 Down Under

Australasia’s greatest pacing product this side of the millennium looks set for a big season as with his stallion career at a critical juncture.

Having had to endure the 2024 New Zealand harness racing season without a single juvenile in the two-year-old crop, Lazarus’ 18 three-year-old’s from his first crop acquitted themselves well, particularly the Barry Purdon & Scott Phelan trained Jeremiah.

The now four-year-old son of Lazarus was competitive in the elite ranks of the sophomore males, winning five of his fourteen starts and banking $142,560.

JEREMIAH REPLAY

One of his five placings came in the Listed $50,000 NZ Sires Stakes Sophomore Classic where he led up from a wide draw and set up a New Zealand record time for the 1700m journey, bowing by a little over a length in a 1:52.8 mile rate.

His 5th placing in the G1 NZ Derby was also full of merit after being held up in the run home when taken back from another wide draw.

The other highlight for Lazarus progeny came on the second Tuesday in November, a date Lazarus fans know all too well after his astonishing double in the New Zealand Cup in 2016 & 2017.

This time it was his then three-year-old son, The Lazarus Effect, who in front of a typically large Cup Day crowd put away a full field of talented pacers in dominant fashion to win remain unbeaten in two starts.

The Bob Butt trained pupil has had a series of setbacks in his career to date but was another bright spot in a relatively quiet season. In saying that, 16 of the 18 (88%) of the first crop from Lazarus achieved qualifying status by the end of their three-year-old campaigns with 14 starters for five individual winners.

Like Lazarus himself, his stock appear to only be getting better with age and from six starters in the early throes of the 2025 season, Lazarus has already seen three individual winners as four-year old’s including the promising Regan Todd trained pacer, Bad Habits.

Even more exciting is the fact that Lazarus will enjoy 57 two-year-old’s among this season’s juvenile racing crop, with the Ray Green trained filly, Rivergirl Bella, making her race day debut on Friday night at Alexandra Park in the North Island’s first two-year-old pacing event for the season.

The blue blood filly is out of the G1 winning American Ideal mare, Ideal Alice, the winner of 20 races on both sides of the Tasman which includes wins in the G1 Westral Mares Classic and two mare at G3 level.

Rivergirl Bella is her 4th foal and at this stage looks to have a bit of X Factor and heads to her debut race assignment as the winner of her two most recent public appearances at the Franklin trials and workouts.

A winning debut would be a welcome one for the vendors who have consigned eighteen Lazarus yearlings at the upcoming NZB Standardbred Yearling sales in a fortnight, with five being catalogued at Karaka and thirteen at Christchurch.

There is some real quality among them including a half-brother to G1 and multiple G2 & G3 winner, BD Joe, as well as a cracking colt from the powerful Studholme bloodstock draft who is out of the G1 winning mare, Lancome.

Buyers would be well versed to take a serious look at the quality offerings of Lazarus at the upcoming sales on the basis of so much promise for the burgeoning sire in 2025.

With a solid crop of juveniles set to fly the flag over the next 11 months and talented four-year-old’s like Jeremiah likely to be contesting the feature pacing classics, it could well prove to be good shopping for those who give the stock of Lazarus the chance they deserve.

In North America, Lazarus is now the sire of over $10,000,000 in progeny earnings including the millionaire, Voukefalas (1:47.3). Among his 123 race winners are 28 $100,000 earners and 39 in 1:53 or faster.

Here is Voukefalas ($1,039,628) winning the $315,068 Graduate Final in 1:47.3 at The Meadowlands.

VOUKEFALAS REPLAY

To view the Lazarus yearlings catalogued in Christchurch, click here.

To view the Lazarus yearlings catalogued in Auckland, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink