There wasn’t even a hint of “what might have been” for the Keayang Zahara crew as they watched last Saturday week’s Brisbane Inter Dominion trotting final.

Instead, Paddy Lee and the Lee/Craven clan were thrilled for Chris Svanosio and the team around Arcee Phoenix as he powered to Inter Dominion glory.

After all, Paddy and Jason Lee, along with Antti Ruokonen had spent plenty of time with Arcee Phoenix and even helped look after him for a while when they campaigned their own star Keayang Zahara out of Bob Butt’s beachside stables, just outside Christchurch, late last year.

When they returned home after that triumphant trip, the long-range plans for Keayang Zahara included the Brisbane Inter Dominion.

But all that changed after a hit-and-run raid on the Group 1 Macarthur Mile at Menangle in early May.

Keayang Zahara suffered her first defeat when run down by the brilliant Susan Is Her Name in blistering time, but it wasn’t that what derailed her Brisbane plans.

“No, if she’d come through it well, we’d probably still have taken her to the Inter Dominion, but she just wasn’t the same mare after it,” co-trainer Paddy Lee said.

“It shocked us because she’s been to Sydney before and obviously had that long trip to NZ and handled them both amazingly well.

“We’re sure it wasn’t just the travel to Sydney this time, but she must have picked up a virus or something. It just knocked her around so much and she lost so much weight. She wasn’t eating.

“We even had tests run on her stomach just recently to make sure there wasn’t anything we couldn’t see, but they said she’s fine.

“Once we’d made the decision to stay home, we were really glad we did.

“She’s back to her old self. She’s bright, healthy and coming up well.

“We’re in no rush because the big races are a while away yet. I’d say she’ll be back racing mid-September.”

Lee said he and the clan would sit down in coming weeks and map out Keayang Zahara’s plans for the rest of the year.

“There’s options here (Victoria), in NZ and in Queensland. We’ve got a bit to think about,” he said.

“We’re keen to take at least one of ours to NZ for their Cup Week, but it might be Keayang Chucky. He’s working up well and will be back racing a week or two after Keayang Zahara.

“We’ll consider taking her, but she’s also got the Group 1 race in Queensland in December (the Great Square).

“Before any of those, she’s got the Vicbred series here at home.

“We might be better to keep her against her own for the rest of this year, then going into the big races early next year.”

Keayang Chucky, who boasts 20 wins from 53 starts, bypassed this year’s Inter Dominion to have a long spell after a tough campaign through late last year and early 2025.

He ran second in the Sydney Inter Dominion final last December, third in the Great Southern Star final on February 1 and hasn’t raced since a fourth at Melton on March 22.

“He came a long, long way quickly and needed some time out. He seems great and we’re looking forward to all the big races again with him.”

The other major race player the clan has is the lightly raced Keayang Stuka, who hasn’t started since his third in last December’s Sydney Inter Dominion final.

“We’ve had our work to do with him because he just wasn’t right in his gait when brought him back-up, so we had to pause, freshen him and start again,” Lee said.

“He trialled well at Terang last week and you’ll see him back racing at Melton on Saturday night. We like him.”

Keayang Stuka has raced just 24 times for seven wins and nine placings.