Superstar mare Keayang Zahara racked up the sixth Group 1 success of her relatively short career when she led all the way in the Aldebaran Park Bill Collins Trotters Sprint on Saturday night at Melton.
Keayang Zahara ($1.22 fav) and her stablemate Jilliby Ballerini cleared out from their rivals approaching the home bend and were in a world of their own in the home straight with the favorite reeling off a slick 26.4 last 400 metres.
Keayang Zahara scored by two metres from Jilliby Ballerini with Ollivici a further 25 metres away in third place.
Driver Jason Lee said the Marg and Paddy Lee-trained stable star won with something in reserve.
“It felt like we were humming but she still had a fair bit left… both the girls were brilliant,” Lee said.
“I know we got it pretty good early, but on the quick back-up she didn’t need to have a gut buster. It’s never easy at Group 1 level and it’s great to win another good race with her.”
Despite the win, Lee indicated immediate plans to travel across the Tasman to contest next month’s $400,000 Dominion Trot in Christchurch were up in the air.
“Just the biggest concern is she hasn’t stepped from the tapes and it’s a long way to go to miss away – the second horse is pretty good, we might just take her,” he said.
