There once was a time when Bryan Healy stood in the shoes of Keayang Zahara’s regular reinsman Jason Lee.
As driver of Australia’s trotting sensation Maori’s Idol through the late 1970s, Healy was the man at the controls during one of harness racing’s great racetrack careers.
Maori’s Idol would win 40 of his 46 starts to earn the reputation of this country’s greatest ever squaregaiting star.
Wind the clock forward some five decades and now it’s Lee who is partnering the horse that many believe will take that mantle.
It didn’t take long for racing fans to draw comparisons between Maori’s Idol and Keayang Zahara, whose 23 wins from 24 starts have helped her become the first ever Australian-bred trotter to reach the $1 million prizemoney barrier.
Amazingly, Keayang Zahara and three other horses in tomorrow night’s Great Southern Star series hail from the family of legendary broodmare Maori Miss, who was bred by Healy’s father Ric.
One of those is Alrighty, whom Healy bred and owns, with the others being Keayang Zahara’s stablemate Jilliby Ballerini and Goulburn Valley gun Im Bobby.
“Maori Miss would be the biggest influence on trotting in Australia in the last 60 years,” said Healy, who left his home in Marnoo to retire in Queensland eight years ago. “You look back over the last 20 years and you find so many good horses that are descendants of her.”
Healy bred and broke in Alrighty, who had his first two starts for late Charlton horseman Joe Thompson before moving to the powerhouse Andy Gath stable in late 2024.
Since then, he has grown and developed into a horse that genuinely deserves his shot at the country’s biggest trotting feature.
Gath knows how to prepare a winner of the Great Southern Star, too. After all, he’s won it five times, including last year with despised outsider Watts Up Partytime.
“It’s a great thrill to have a runner in the Great Southern Star, but he’s only a longshot,” Healy said. “At least he’s probably in the weaker heat (two) and his draw’s not too bad (three).
“Keayang Zahara is unbelievable. She makes them all look second rate.
“I don’t really think we’ve seen the best of her yet. They haven’t let her go for a while.”
