Bonus in the offing as Keayang Zahara delivers in Ballarat

CHAMPION mare Keayang Zahara edged closer to the magical $1 million mark in earnings following another breathtaking win in the $75,000 Group 2 Ballarat Trotters Cup (2200m) at Bray Raceway last Saturday night.

The five-year-old put his connections, including co-trainers Marg and Paddy Lee, further in contention for a $500,000 bonus by claiming a second leg of the rich Summer of Glory series, two weeks after trouncing her rivals in the Group 1 Maori Mile at Melton.

Keayang Zahara would need to win one of either of this Saturday night’s $75,000 Group 1 Cranbourne Trotters Cup or the $75,000 Group 2 Kilmore Trotters Cup the following weekend, and seal the deal with a victory in the $250,000 Group 1 Great Southern Star Final at Melton on 14 February.

It would be a brave person to bet against Keayang Zahara securing the required four series legs, after emphatically notching up her 22nd win from 23 career starts at Ballarat.

After stretching his own record in the sulky behind Keayang Zahara to a perfect 16 wins from 16 drives, Jason Lee revealed the bonus had been a popular topic of conversation around their stables at Ecklin South in Victoria’s Western District.

“There’s obviously a good chance (we’ll go to Cranbourne or Kilmore), but we’ve got to get through tonight,” he said.

“Obviously you watch these races as a kid growing up and you listen to the Grant Dixons and Luke McCarthys and how they all talk about their horse (Leap To Fame and Kingman).

“I know it’s a bit cliched, like in footy terms … one week at a time …but you honestly just have to get through tonight and see that she pulls up well.

“But it’s a pretty big carrot. You’d be lying if you said it hadn’t been given plenty of thought.

“It’s in the back of our mind to get towards doing so, but it’s not an easy feat.

“We’ll just take it one race at a time.”

Keayang Zahara ($1.04 favourite) smashed the previous track record, held by two-time Inter Dominion winner Just Believe, with a winning mile rate of 1:65.8, punctuated by a brilliant last half of 54.6.

The 11m winning margin was just as assertive as her dominance in betting.

Rockinwithattitude ($11) and Arcee Phoenix ($11.50), who battled it out for second and third, were next best in the market behind the superstar mare.

Keayang Zahara boosted her lifetime earnings to $967,785, with a win at Cranbourne or Kilmore certain to see her pass $1 million.

A Cup win capped a stellar night for the Lee family, who took the training honours with a winning treble with their three big trotting guns.

Arguably the nation’s second-best trotting mare, Jilliby Ballerini – whose large ownership group includes a handful of Ballarat locals – made it three wins in a row with a comfortable victory in the Listed Delvin Dancer (2200m), while the four-year-old mare Jilliby Dreamlover kickstarted a dominant night in the Sweet Lou Trot ($17,500), extending her winning streak to four.

As has almost become customary when they win on the same night, Jason Lee was again quizzed on comparisons between Keayang Zahara and Jilliby Ballerini and what might happen if they were to again clash, which they have done just once before.

“There is no doubt she (Jilliby Ballerini) could beat Zahara, and if you didn’t have Zahara, you’d be absolutely over the moon, which we are, with having this one,” he said after the Devlin Classic.

“We are absolutely tickled pink to have her.

“Pound for pound, if this one got the right run and Zahara didn’t, she could beat her.

“There’s probably a handful of trotters that would think that if things go wrong for Zahara, they could beat her.

“But probably the best thing about Zahara is she can make her own luck. Do something wrong as a driver and she can get you out of trouble.

“She is unbelievable.”