Will Lazarus N be crowning touch for a “King?”

Life’s a puzzle!

Things happen in harness racing without rhyme or reason and fate takes over leading one down a path…sometimes a trying path and sometimes into success beyond one’s wildest dreams.

Jim King, Jr. is in full stride as one of the most successful harness racing trainers in recent years and hopes that his trainee, Lifes A Puzzle, a three-year-old altered son of Lazarus (N), adds to the wild ride he’s taken…wild beyond his wildest dreams…adding jewels to the King’s crown he’s enjoyed, especially over the last decade.

Turning back the clocks a half century, King’s career in harness racing started humbly, indeed, in 1972, just approaching the age of 20 with 16 drives, a couple of seconds and a third, a “batting average” of .090 and $513 in purse earnings. With Lucien Fontaine’s efforts to get drivers and trainer paid their 5% off the top, King’s earnings from his efforts figures out to $25.65.

Since then, Jim King, Jr. has been on a track that has led to over $50,000,000 in purse earnings—half of that while driving regularly until about 10 years ago and the other half since concentrating on training beginning some 20 years ago.

In his earlier years, King wasn’t blessed with stakes and Grand Circuit stock with his best one, maybe, being the rugged trotter Jason J, who won $276,040—$143,750 in his final year on the track—despite having chronic soundness problems throughout his career.

King hung up his spikes in the bike with over 3,500 career wins and has close to 1,400 wins as a trainer with Tim Tetrick doing much of the “catch-driving” and responsible for much of the stable’s success.

“Tim has been a Godsend for us as there are a lot of great, talented catch drivers and we’ve been very fortunate to have someone of Tim’s stature and talent to work with us.”

The past five seasons have changed King’s life with the grand mare from New Zealand, Shartin (N), taking the harness world by storm in 2018 with wins in the Lady Liberty, Breeders Crown and TVG Mares Open among her many 39 triumphs in North America through 2020. to go along with her 1:46.4 mark at The Meadowlands on August 3, 2019, retiring with earnings of $2,479,512—a “life changing” amount, said King.

Donttellmeagain was yet another success for King in 2018 with wins in the Graduate and Dayton Derby with King annexing $2,889,016 in purse earnings his best year ever—but with even better things on the horizon.

In 2019, yet another outstanding filly, Lyons Sentinel, began sharing headlines with Shartin (N), and that continued through 2022 with 17 rich stakes wins at eight different tracks in North America with the headliner being the $405,000 She’s A Great Lady Stakes for two-year-olds at Woodbine in 2019. She also won the Matron and several Sires Stakes in Pennsylvania.

At the end of 2019, King had amassed $4,273,611—another personal record.

Between 2020 and this writing, Jim King, Jr., has amassed over $8,000,000 in additional purses, bringing his success as a trainer to the same level as his success in the bike—$25 million in each category.

So, what’s ahead for the now 71-year-old trainer?

“Well,” he lamented, “I get up in the darkness of every morning and thankful to see the light with my wife, JoAnn, and we’re thankful for the path we’ve been lucky enough to take.

“She’s a cancer survivor going back 40 years and we’ve been blessed to continue to have good health and lucky enough to have some very great horses over the years.

“We hope to have a good year here in 2023 and we have two by Lazarus (N).”

Lazarus (N) is a son of Bettor’s Delight out of the Christian Cullen mare Bethany who won over $3 million during a storied racing career encompassing 51 starts with six of those here in North America in 2018.

He won 37 of those starts with two important wins in the States, including the $325,000 Dan Patch at Hoosier Park in 1:48.4—:26 and Hoosier Park Pacing Derby in 1:48.4, highlighted by a final quarter in :25.4.

By the way, Lazarus (N) chased McWicked around The Red Mile’s Allerage Stake and was gaining late and finished less than a length away in the winner’s 1:46.2 mile.

About the pair of Lazarus (N) hopefuls, King expects that sire to play a significant role as a sire here in the U.S.

“Yes, we like them both. Wall Of Blue, a little bitty filly maybe 14 hands high, is out of a Somebeachsomewhere mare (Misssomebeach Blue) and she won three times last year, took a mark of 1:53 and won $85,000 and change and is coming right along in getting ready for her three-year-old season. She’s tiny with a huge heart!

“We have another we’re very high on and that’s Lifes A Puzzle, also out of a Somebeachsomewhere mare (L Dees Lioness) who took a mark of (1):50.4 as a two-year-old last year and earned $75,150.

“He just qualified in 1:54.4 with a last half in :54.3 and last quarter in :26.4.

“Tim (Tetrick) said he was “on his own” all the way home so we’re hoping for great things from him this year.”

Lazarus (N) already has shown big potential at stud with last year’s two-year-olds Handlelikeaporsche and Voukefalas leading the parade—the former with $269,350 in earnings to go along with a 1:50.1 mark at The Meadowlands and the latter with a 1:50 mark at The Big M to go along with $241,088 in first season bounty.

“The nice part about the Lazarus’ (N) horses is that you can get them at a reasonable price, and they seem to have ability…at least the two we have do,” said King.

“It’s a great combination to be able to have affordable talent these days.

“You’d better keep your eye on Lazarus (N)!”

by John Berry, for Harnesslink