With anticipation at an all-time high for the debut Southern Hemisphere crop of Lazarus juveniles, the champion son of Bettor’s Delight had his second winner in a public outing at last week’s Rangiora Harnes Racing Club workouts.
Bad Habits’ first public appearance was from behind the mobile featuring two other runners and was handled patiently for much of the 2000m journey with driver Robbie Close happy to sit at the rear of the field.
Close gave Bad Habits his head with 600m to run where he displayed a good turn of foot to get up outside the leader Munroe’s Mate (Downbytheseaside) for the sprint home.
The pair went clear of the other runner, Salute (Sweet Lou), with the upstanding Lazarus colt getting the better of the Tony Barron trained juvenile to score by three quarters of a length.
The winning time was a sedate 2:42.4 for the 2000m with a mile rate of 2:10.6 and closing splits of 59.6 and 29.2.
BAD HABITS REPLAY
Bad Habits (Lazarus – Real Wings) was a $70,000 yearling sales purchase out of the Arden Lodge draft of John and Judy Stiven last year in Christchurch.
He is out of the one-win Badlands Hanover mare, Real Wings, who hails from the wonderful Tuapeka breed made famous by Father Dan and the Cummings family.
Three weeks earlier, Lazarus filly, Eyeliner, was a winner at the Chertsey trials for the All-Star’s training partnership of Mark and Nathan Purdon.
Interestingly she is out the Christian Cullen mare That’s Hunting Pink, making the filly 2 x 3 to Christian Cullen, giving a unique spin to the golden Bettor’s Delight x Christian Cullen cross that has worked so well down under.
EYELINER REPLAY
The Steven Reid and Simon McMullen trained two-year-old Lazarus filly, Change Tact, who was a possibility of targeting the Young Guns Series at Alexandra Park has been sent to the spelling paddock after showing promise back in January. It was reported at the time she was a big juvenile and the prospect of some time to strengthen up will put her in good stead for a campaign later in the year.
Lazarus’ first crop of juveniles is boutique in size with just seventeen live foals, however with almost a quarter of them sighted in public so early in the season bodes well for the dual hemisphere stallion and his chances going forward.
Lazarus has returned to his Northern Hemisphere home at Deo Volente Farms on the back of serving his largest book of New Zealand mares with the final total sitting at 124 mares.
byĀ Brad Reid, for Harnesslink