Mark Purdon and Lazarus. Photo by Stuart McCormack
Any small hopes harboured by Lazarus’s rivals for his resumption at Cambridge have received two hammer blows.
Which leaves the champion pacer looking a near certainty and multi bet anchor in the $60,000 McMillan’s Waikato Flying Mile tonight.
The wonder pacer who moved into the realm of the greats with two amazing performances at the New Zealand Cup carnival in November has his first race since Nov 11 tonight.
There was the merest hint that may leave him vulnerable when he worked before the Auckland Cup meeting at Alexandra Park last Saturday, with the four-year-old looking like he had eaten too much Christmas pudding and only doing what he needed to in sedate time behind a galloping pacemaker.
But trainer-driver Mark Purdon says that trip has woken the stallion up and he will be a sharper Lazarus tonight.
“He needed that experience at the races to get his mind back on the job and he has worked well this week so it has really bought him on, mentally and physically.”
So while he won’t be screwed down for tonight’s sprint – understandable as he has a hugely lucrative four-race Australian campaign coming up – Lazarus should be close enough to the mark.
Especially when you factor in the second part of the one-two punch his rivals have copped this week: the champ drawing four but to start from barrier two.
That should see him blast to the front or at worst jump straight outside the leader and control the race. From there the result seems obvious.
This race has long been dominated by those on the speed so the greatly improved The Faithful, who was fifth in the Auckland Cup, looks a value place chance if he can hold the inside advantage into the first bend and trail.
While tonight’s big pace looks a forgone conclusion, the feature trot has been sparked by the return of two former age group stars.
Prince Fearless is back after a year away from the track while local trotting star Prime Power is a former Jewels winner who pushed Speeding Spur close in this race last season.
He has hardly been sighted since but reports suggest he is working well and from barrier three he has the gate speed to make his rival work.
National Trot winner Quite A Moment is the favourite and while her best form has been over longer distances, she was slick enough to finish third in the A$300,000 Great Southern Star last season over 1720m and almost won a major mile race here last season.
Her huge diet of Australian racing should ensure she can use barrier two to her advantage so she is definitely the one to beat.
Earlier in the night More The Better should confirm his trip to the Victoria Derby even from a wide draw in the $20,000 Waikato Guineas.
He raced below par in his first two appearances at the Auckland meeting but was back to his best when chasing Ultimate Machete hard in the $200,000 Sales Series last Saturday.
Returning to the track where he won the Jewels last season he should win.
