Driver Jason Lee admits he still doesn’t know just how good Keayang Zahara is.
But he expects to be a bit clearer after she faces yet another defining test, this time against one of her “own”, in Saturday night’s Group 1 Bill Collins Trotters’ Sprint at Melton.
Keayang Zahara left rivals and fans gobsmacked when she returned from a spell with an astonishing last-to-first win at Melton last Saturday night. It was her 16th win from just 17 starts.
She gave reigning Inter Dominion champion Arcee Phoenix a 40m head start and easily ran him down, seemingly without being extended.
It should be enough to just turn up and repeat the dose, especially from barrier four this week, but she has her much-improved stablemate Jilliby Ballerini drawn even better (gate two) and coming off her own career-best performance two weeks ago.
While Jilliby Ballerini, like every other three-year-old trotter, lived in Keayang Zahara’s shadow last year, she’s gone to a new level with nine wins from her 11 starts in 2025 and should be first to find the lead on Saturday night.
Lee drove them both to win their last starts, but will stick with Keayang Zahara this week. His cousin, Glen Craven, will partner Jilliby Ballerini.
“The races don’t get any easier,” Lee said. “We’ve always had an opinion of ‘Ballerini’, but Zahara was just a league above them all last season, here and in NZ.
“But Ballerini has really developed and she couldn’t have been more impressive last start.
“The thing with Zahara is, we still don’t know how good she is and how far she can go.
“You’d say if she had to sit outside Ballerini on what mare did last start, she shouldn’t be able to beat her, but who knows with her.”
Jilliby Ballerini
Last season Jilliby Ballerini would have surrendered the lead straight to the superior Keayang Zahara, but Lee said Craven would be the master of his own tactics this time.
“It’s not just about us two. Keayang Stuka can really blast out and could be a chance to cross them all, while Derek The Jet gets out really quickly and he’s drawn in between Ballerini and Zahara,” he said.
“If Ballerini did lead and it took me 400m or more to get around outside her, Glen might be happy to chance his arm and hold the front.”
The race has broader ramifications, too. It will decide if Keayang Zahara or Jilliby Ballerini head to NZ next month for two major races, including the $NZ400,000 Group 1 Dominion, at Addington.
“It’s likely we’ll take one, but only one. I’d have said it would be Ballerini, but the way Zahara went last week, if she does that again we’ve got some serious thinking to do,” Lee said.
“It’s a good problem to have with two outstanding young mares who, hopefully, have years of big races ahead of them.
“Apart from NZ, we’ve also got to consider the Group 1 race (Great Square) in Brisbane in December and now Victoria has announced this new $500,000 bonus across the big trotting races here (Victoria) through January and February.”
Lee, his brother Paddy and mother, Marg, still have 2024 Inter Dominion runner-up Keayang Chucky not far off a racetrack return for the major races, too.
PHOTOS: HRNZ and Stu McCormick
