Lazarus hits speed bumps on road to Mile
A Miracle Mile that Lazarus could not lose is starting to look like one he will struggle to win.
The Kiwi pacing hero struck not one but two judder bars over the weekend on the road to the only great Australasian race to have eluded him.
The first signs of trouble for Lazarus, and punters, came when the Inter Dominion champ was a brave but battling third in his $100,000 prelude to the Mile at Menangle on Saturday night.
That was still enough to earn him an invite to the $A750,000 super sprint this Saturday but Lazarus clearly was not at his best, only clawing his way into third on heart after looking beaten at the 500m mark.
He appeared still drained by the effects of a virus trainerdriver Mark Purdon had expected to be out of his system but dogged the entire PurdonRasmussen stable on a dreadful night at the office.
‘‘We had a bug through the team during the week but we thought they were over it,’’ Purdon said. ‘‘They had good blood reports and we even had Laz scoped on the morning of the race so we could keep the stewards up to date, but clearly, he was still below his best.’’
Purdon said Lazarus appeared to come through the hard run well and looked fresh yesterday, and he expected to know more about his wellbeing after fast work tomorrow.
But that is not the only problem facing Lazarus, as he drew the outside of the front line at yesterday’s barrier draw, meaning he will start from barrier 8. Since the Miracle Mile moved to Menangle a decade ago, no horse has even placed from barrier 8.
That saw him move from $1.70 on Saturday morning to $2.20 with the New Zealand TAB last night but he could stretch out to $3 before race start time, especially depending on how Purdon assesses his return to fitness.
The field.— 1: Tiger Tara (1), 2: Atomic Red (2), 3: Anything For Love (3), 4: My Field Marshal (4), 5: Jilliby Kung Fu (5), 6: Soho Tribeca (6), 7: Lennytheshark (7), 8: Charlaval (8), 9: Let It Ride (9), 10: Lazarus (10). Emergencies: Let It Ride, Atomic Red. — NZME