If Jimmy Takter was disappointed by Lazarus’s shock defeat in Canada today he was hiding it well.
The champion former Kiwi pacer had to settle for second in a C$34,000 free-for-all at Woodbine in Toronto, closing from fourth to second at the top of the straight but easily beaten by Nirvana Seelster.
Nirvana Seelster could manage only eighth in the Canadian Pacing Derby that Lazarus finished second in two weeks so after winning fresh up in North America three starts ago, Lazarus could appear to be tracking in the wrong direction.
But Takter, the Hall of Fame trainer entrusted with the millionaire stallion, says he was happy enough with the performance in the 1:48.2 mile.
“Obviously we would have liked to win but it is not that easy against these horses over a fast mile,” said Takter.
“We found out he had a virus after the Canadian Derby so he missed some work coming into this race which is why we decided to drive him further back rather than sending him down the road (leading).
“So for him to come from fourth to run second and pace his last half mile in 53.2 seconds was good.
"And he will improve with that. All the mile races he can have will help.”
Lazarus will now head to the US$175,000 Hoosier Park Derby in Indiana on Friday (Saturday afternoon NZ time), the track where he won the Dan Patch in his first US start last month.
The irony for Lazarus is had he started out with a performance like yesterday’s in his first North American start, progressed to a second in the Canadian Derby and won the Dan Patch he would now be rated the best pacer in North America.
But the expectations created by his magic mile fresh up in the Dan Patch last month mean that anything but a Lazarus win will be judged a failure by most racing fans.
The six-year-old gets the chance to win them back over before the week is out.
Safely through the Hoosier Park race Lazarus is still a chance to head to the super fast Red Mile in Kentucky in three weeks to chase a career best time.