Elitlopp possible for Keayang Zahara

By Adam Hamilton 

Champion trotting mare Keayang Zahara’s November New Zealand raid could be a stepping-stone to an even bigger international target.

In a surprise and exciting twist, co-trainer Paddy Lee has revealed a trip to the famed Elitlopp in Sweden next May is back on the table for discussion.

The news comes just five months after Lee’s mother and co-trainer Marg Lee had ruled the trip out.

“Things have changed and Marg has to reconsider a few things, including Sweden,” he said.

“Losing the Cambridge slot race and hearing the big ($500,000) bonus for the big Victorian trotting races in summer won’t be back means the money she can race for here isn’t anywhere near as much as it was earlier this year.

“It’s still a long way off, but it’s back as something we’ve got to seriously consider.”

The Elitlopp, which consists of two heats into a final on the same day, carried prize money of over $NZ1.8 million this year.

Next year’s Elitlopp is scheduled for May 30.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to about the race (Elitlopp) says your horse has to be in its absolute prime if you’re going to have a crack at it. They’re just so good those top European and US trotters who run in it,” Lee said.

“She’s had a good grounding now and some more big races coming, including NZ in November, it’ll give her even more experience.”

Keayang Zahara would become just the fifth Australian and ninth Australasian trotter to contest the Elitlopp.

No Australian has made the final, with former champion Kiwi mare Pride Of Petite the only one to do so when sixth in 1997.

The last Australian to go was The Locomotive last year and he ran sixth in his heat where only the first four qualify for the final.

Keayang Zahara ticks lots of boxes as one of the greatest trotters Down Under has produced.

The five-year-old mare has been beaten just once in 29 starts, banked over $1.5 million.

Keayang Zahara’s 15 Group 1 wins equals the record set by the great Kiwi Lyell Creek in the early 2000s.

Lyell Creek went to the 2001 Elitlopp and narrowly missed qualifying for the final when a luckless fifth in his heat.

Keayang Zahara hasn’t raced since thrashing a hot field in the TAB Trot at Cambridge on April 10.

She heads to the Terang trials on September 8 as she prepares to chase a record-breaking 16th Group 1 win in the Bill Collins Sprint at Melton on October 17.

Keayang Zahara is then booked to fly to NZ, where she has already been twice and is unbeaten in four starts, to chase the $400,000 Group 1 Dominion Trot in Christchurch on November 10.

Such is her dominance, Keayang Zahara is already $1.20 to win the Bill Collins and $1.35 favourite for the Dominion.