Kiwi fans can see Lazarus race in first US start

Lazarus’ army of Kiwi fans will be able to watch his first US start next week, something his new trainer Jimmy Takter may not be able to do.

The champion pacer kicks off his North American career a lot sooner than anybody anticipated on Saturday week (NZ time) after a US$25,000 late payment was made for the now US$325,000 Dan Patch at Hoosier Park in Indiana.

The race is scheduled for early Saturday afternoon on August 11 and wasn’t originally going to be covered by Trackside but with the TAB wanting to support the huge interest in Lazarus, it will now be broadcast live, most likely on Trackside 2.

This means Kiwis will get to see a race that Takter himself is likely to miss. The Hall of Fame trainer is going on his annual holiday next week because he, like everybody else, didn’t think Lazarus would be racing yet.

Takter says the trip to Indiana will involve a 10-hour transporter (horse float) ride for Lazarus.

Depending on how he performs in the Dan Patch, Lazarus’s next major target has been confirmed as the Canadian Pacing Derby, which has eliminations on August 25 and the final on September 1 (Sunday NZT).