NZ pacing great gets his time in the spotlight

Two past harness racing stars of Melton have been honoured in recent weeks and this time it’s Lazarus’ turn to get his time in the spotlight.

The brilliant Kiwi pacer started four times at Victorian harness racing headquarters through 2016-2018 and won them all, with Group 1 victories in the Victoria Derby, Victoria Cup, 4YO Bonanza and Hunter Cup contributing to a glittering career record that ended with 37 victories and over $4million in prizemoney from stints in New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

This Saturday, the inaugural running of the Pryde’s EasiFeed Lazarus Free For All takes place at the scene of some of his greatest triumphs, with a small but quality eight-horse field set to chase glory in the night’s fast-class feature.

Inter Dominion runner-up Torrid Saint is back and Hurricane Harley is first-up following his fourth placing in March’s Miracle Mile, while last-start winner Serg Blanco and the emerging Bettor Isolate are among the challengers.

The Lazarus Free For All follows newly-created races celebrating Tiger Tara and Lennytheshark, which have also been run at Melton in recent times.

Saturday night’s meeting will see the return of top trotting mares Egret and Revelstoke, with Anton Golino’s pair to take on in-form Chris Svanosio-trained trotter Arcee Phoenix in the Logical Staffing Solutions Trot, while the Lenin Trotters Free For All sets up another showdown between Ultimate Stride and Queen Elida after the pair endured an epic battle at Melton on May 20.

Rob Auber, Jason Bonnington and Shannon O’Sullivan are set to join caller Dan Mielicki for the coverage on TrotsVision, which will kick-off shortly before the first race at 4.47pm.

For complete race fields, click here.

by Tim O’Connor, for HRV