The Terang mare should post her 26e win from 27 starts and land her 14e victory at Group 1 level in Saturday night’s $60,000 Just Believe Grand Prix (2240m) in Melton.
There will be talk about whether pulling pole is ideal, but the five-year-old is seemingly coming out of the gate faster every race and should be able to hold the lead.
Judging by her recent romp in a heat and final of the Great Southern Star, she is simply a class above the rivals she races in Victoria.
Another victory on Saturday takes her double Inter Dominion winner Take A Moment to an outright second spot on 13 wins in Group 1, just one behind great Kiwi Lyell Creek, who won majors in New Zealand, Australia and North America.
If you include the recent $500,000 Summer of Glory bonus she won, Keayang Zahara has $1,664,435 in her bank account.
Her biggest test lies ahead when she meets star Queensland trotter Gus, who marked his arrival into the big league when he won the Group 1 double – Dominion Trot and NZ Trotting free-for-all – during NZ Cup Week last November.
Gus will chase his second win from as many starts this season in a free-for-all at Albion Park on Saturday evening.
Co-trainer Peter McMullen confirmed he would next target the $100,000 Group 1 Hammerhead Mile at Menangle on March 14.
Whether Keayang Zahara will go to the Hammerhead will not be decided until after Saturday evening.
Gus and Keayang Zahara have yet to clash.
If not at the Hammerhead, they will meet for the first time at the $NZ600,000 Trot Slot in Cambridge on New Zealand’s North Island on April 10.
Co-trainer Paddy Lee confirmed that Keayang Zahara and one of her stablemates – Jilliby Ballerini or Jilliby Dreamlover – would be heading to Cambridge.
“We have two places in the race and ‘Zahara’ will take one,” he said. “We will finalize the plans around the Hammerhead, if we give it our all, and Cambridge, after the three of them race on Saturday evening.”
While Jilliby Dreamlover, who ran third behind Keayang Zahara in the Great Southern Star last Saturday, will clash with her again this week, Jilliby Ballerini will go elsewhere.
Team Lee has opted to drop Great Southern Star runner-up Jilliby Ballerini to race her own gender in the $30,000 Breed For Speed Gold Trot (1720m).
It promises to be more of a competition than the Grand Prix, with the upcoming I Am Wilma (gate three) and Rockinwithattitude (five) within Jilliby Ballerini (six).
The other star factor at Melton is eight-time Group 1-winning pacer Catch A Wave, who is signed to return to form from gate two in the lone race of the night (race one).
The enigmatic start should fire up to justify a trip to Menangle the following week for one of the Miracle Mile qualifiers.
Catch A Wave’s biggest win came in the 2023 Miracle Mile.
Through Adam Hamiltonfor Harness Racing Victoria
#Champion #mare #ready #extend #stunning #record