Future ownership of Lazarus still up in air

THE future of Otago’s finest harness racing export remains in limbo.

Interest in the future ownership of Lazarus, arguably one of New Zealand’s greatest pacers of all time, hit fever pitch in early April.

Then, it was revealed the 5yrold, bred by Dunedin’s Gavin Chin, was the subject of bigmoney offers from buyers.

The sale of the Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussentrained star was expected to be finalised just days after the announcement the dual New Zealand Cup winner was potentially on the market.

More than two weeks have passed since then and harness racing fans are still none the wiser about Lazarus’ future racing plans.

During that time, sale negotiations have continued, but there is still no clear answer on when a deal can be made.

A sale agreement could be finalised by the end of this week at the earliest, coowner Trevor Casey said.

Casey owns the pacer with Phil and Glenys Kennard, also of Christchurch, and Kevin Riseley, of Victoria.

‘‘It is taking a bit of time, but there is no confirmation or anything, yet . . . it has dragged on a bit,’’ Casey said.

Casey was not in a position to release details of any offers in front of the quartet of owners when he spoke to the Otago Daily Times.

The mystery that surrounds Lazarus’ potential sale has fuelled harness racing industry gossip there are two offers on the table for the star — one large offer from American owners and another from an Australasian stud business.

Should the parties wanting to purchase Lazarus not consolidate their offers soon, his owners will move on to work out their own course of action for their star.

‘‘I would hope that we would hear late this week or early next week. Otherwise they have had plenty of time and we will have to decide something between the owners,’’ Casey said.

It can be confirmed Lazarus is back in training and swimming in readiness for another campaign.

‘‘He is doing his course of swimming; he did the same last year,’’ Casey said.

❛ Hopefully this week, with a bit of luck, we will hear something — it has dragged on a bit