Aussies look to continue dominance over Kiwis at Cambridge
by Adam Hamilton
Jason Lee was born at the right time.
Well, at least for the way the pendulum of dominance has swung between New Zealand and Australia.
As the 30-year-old Lee, from farming stock in the western districts of Victoria, prepares for another trip across to New Zealand, he knows the privileged position he is in.
“It’s just so different now,” he said. “When I was growing up, the Kiwis used to come across and dominate just about all of our key [Australian] races. It’s just the way it was. I think the Aussies embraced it.
“But it’s really changed in the past five years or so, which is great timing for someone like me.”
The trend looks set to continue at the huge Night of Champions at Cambridge, on New Zealand’s North Island, next Friday (April 10).
And Lee drives the leader of the expected Aussie domination, champion trotting mare Keayang Zahara, She is $1.10 favorite (for a $1 bet) to win the $530,000 TAB Trot.
It’s no surprise given she’s won 27 of her 28 starts, including an Australasian record-equaling 15 at Group 1 level. She shares that record with the great Lyell Creek, who raced with success in North America in the early 2000s.
Keayang Zahara is one of three Aussies in the seven-horse slot race. The others are the second and third favorites, Queensland star Gus and Keayang Zahara’s stablemate, Jilliby Ballerini. She will be driven by Lee’s cousin, Glen Craven.
This will be the third running of the TAB Trot and Australians have dominated the first two with Just Believe winning in 2024 and Arcee Phoenix last year.
It’s almost unthinkable that the trophy won’t return to Australia again.
There are even more Aussie raiders in the other marquee race at Cambridge, the $1 million Race by Sport Nation. At least five of the 10 pacers in the field will be Australian raiders.
That’s a record total of eight Aussie raiders at Cambridge, one more than last year.
And the quality trumps the quantity.
The great Leap To Fame, arguably the best pacer Australia has seen, leads the way. He’s returning to defend the crown he won in such a powerhouse and remarkable style last year.
Many still say it’s the best performance of his career. Certainly, the Kiwis do, given it’s the first time they had seen Leap To Fame in the flesh.
Leap To Fame has an elite support crew, too.
The two pacers who have beaten him the most (three times) — Swayzee and Kingman — will try to do it again.
Swayzee and Kingman also have proven form in New Zealand, winning the past three iconic NZ Cups between them (Swayzee in 2023 and ’24) and Kingman (last year). Kingman beat Leap To Fame in his win.
Joining them will be emerging star The Janitor, who has yet to beat Leap To Fame, but threatened to do so at their past two meetings.
The Janitor ran a slashing third to Don Hugo (with Leap To Fame second) in the Group 1 Blacks A Fake last December.
Then he looked like he was going straight past Leap To Fame in the Miracle Mile on March 14, before the champ dug deep and fought him off.
Throw in multiple Group 1 winner Captains Knock and it completes a stellar Aussie line-up.
Like the TAB Trot, it’s nigh on impossible making a case for a Kiwi win in the Race by Sport Nation.
For Lee, going to New Zealand to drive “the best horse I’m likely to ever drive” is an opportunity he wants to savor.
“Although there’s plenty of pressure and expectation every time she races and you’re always trying to think ahead, I’m trying to reflect and enjoy as best I can,” he said. “Sometimes you’ve just got to look back and smell the roses a bit.”
That also applies to Keayang Zahara’s one defeat, in blistering time by a small margin, in May, last year.
“People ask whether it’s good she’s not unbeaten as far as the pressure goes, but that’s not how I see it,” Lee said. “I honestly would’ve loved it. It’s got a better ring to it, unbeaten, compared to having that one blemish, and it would’ve been great for the sport, too.”
While Keayang Zahara won all three starts during a New Zealand raid as a 3-year-old in late 2024, Lee says winning the TAB Trot would be next level.
“In just a short time the race has grown into one of the biggest trotting races in this part of the world,” he said.
“I’m good friends with Chris Svanosio and to watch him win it with Arcee Phoenix last year and the thrill it gave him, it made me hungry.
“It runs deeper than that. Keayang Zahara is getting a big following, especially around the area at home where anytime you go to shops or the pub, people are asking about her.
“It’s also a new challenge and, as I said before, I’m someone who loves a challenge. It helps when you’ve a mare like this on your side.”
So, how does it feel to drive Keayang Zahara?
“She feels like driving a rocket,” Lee said. “She’s got gears, the sort of gears that only some of the best pacers I’ve driven have given me over the years.”
Lee said New Zealand fans would see a lot more “grown up” Keayang Zahara compared to 18 months ago.
“Obviously her ability has been super since day dot, but it’s her manners and ringcraft which have improved now,” Lee said. “She’s a complete racehorse. She’s a very smart animal now, she knows when to conserve her energy. That maturity also applies to her traveling to the races now.”
Keayang Zahara has relegated stablemate Jilliby Ballerini to second spot in their past three clashes, but there have been times where people think the gap is closing.
Could Jilliby Ballerini cause an upset at Cambridge?
“That’s an interesting one because Glen [Craven] and I get to drive both of them at times,” Lee said. “Sometimes you’ll drive ‘Ballerini’ and get off and think she’s closing the gap, then next time you’ll get back on ‘Zahara’ and realize Ballerini is nowhere near her.
“Ballerini is a star in her own right and I’m sure there’s a scenario where she could beat her, but I think if they clash 50 times, Zahara will win 48 or 49 of them.”
What needs to go right for Keayang Zahara to win again?
“It’s more a case of what doesn’t need to go wrong,” Lee said. “She’s a champion and rightly being talked about as one of the best trotters we’ve seen in this part of the world.”
If she wins again at Cambridge, Lee knows the question will come up about a truly international raid for a race like next year’s Elitlopp will come up again.
“Yes, and it’ll be the same answer,” he said. “It’s a possibility, but one we haven’t thought much about and won’t until the end of this year or early next.
“For now, we’re just enjoying having a mare good enough to win some of the best races in our part of the world.”
