Lazarus N on the board with first Down Under winner

One of harness racing’s up-and-coming stars, ex-pat kiwi Jack Trainor, has delivered another ex-pat New Zealand rising star his first winner in the Southern Hemisphere.

Lazarus got on the board last night (Mar. 9) as a race-winning sire ‘down under’ when his daughter, Stylish Lazarus, was victorious in the sixth on the card at the Bathurst meeting.

Driven by another young gun and leading NSW reinsman, Cam Hart, Stylish Lazarus showed good gates speed from barrier four to cross and lead with a little under a mile to run.

From there, the pair were able to dictate terms, with Hart stacking them up and the promising filly putting away her opposition with ease in the closing stretch to score by a margin of 11 meters at the finish.

The winning time for the 1730m mobile for the 2yo pacers was a tidy 2:08.0 with a mile rate of 1:59.1 and closing splits of 58.3 and 28.5.

STYLISH LAZARUS REPLAY

Trainor reported that the $17,000 yearling sales purchase has been a pleasure to work with since arriving through the gates and has some lofty targets in the imminent future.

“She got broken by Dwayne Sarina after the sales and he gave her two preps and I’ve had her since then,” said Trainor.

“She has been the perfect little filly, everything I have asked her, she has done it with ease.

“She has a great temperament and every time I have asked her for a little bit more she has just stepped up. When you drive her, you think it’s an older horse, she’s just so well-mannered and so good natured.

“She’s pretty forward but she will only improve off that, she has the Bathurst Gold Tiara heat next week and I can’t see why she be competitive. From what I have seen so far, she is probably one of the nicer two-year-old fillies going around so I think we have a very good hope going into that series,” he said.

Stylish Lazarus is bred to be good being out of the seven-win Art Major mare, My Major Rocket NZ (1:51.6).

She in turn is out of an In The Pocket mare Kate’s Rocket, who is a daughter of Christian Cullen’s older half-sister and 4-time G1 winner, Kate’s First (Holmes Hanover).

This gives Stylish Lazarus a beautiful 4 x 4 cross to Pleasant Franco and a beautiful example of the ‘Rasumussen Factor’ not seen in too many ‘down under’ pedigrees.

With only 40 2YO’s in his debut Australian crop, opportunities to work with the progeny of the world champion pacer are scarce, however Trainor has had the good fortune of steering another of the Lazarus’ and like his own filly, was suitably impressed with what he saw and felt.

“I drove a Lazarus colt at the trials that won recently called Power To Impress. He is trained by David Thorn and was very much like this one, he showed great speed and was nominated for this week to race and low and behold he suffered a track work accident in the weekend.

“From what I have seen so far I really like them (Lazarus progeny), the two I have had anything to do with have been very much the same being great types, good pacers and a nice turn of foot,” he said.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink