It could be advantage Heaven Rocks for the first major clash of the harness racing season.
The biggest names in pacing - Lazarus, Heaven Rocks and Have Faith In Me - trialled at Rangiora yesterday as their final public lead-ups to Addington tomorrow week.
And the way Heaven Rocks dealt to his two superstar stablemates suggests he could start favourite for their season-opening clash.
Heaven Rocks displayed perfect manners not only at the start of the 2600m standing start but also at near full speed over the last 800m in 55 seconds. That was enough to see him overcome his 40m handicap to beat Robbie Burns, who started off the front, with Lazarus (40m) not asked for his maximum effort in third. Have Faith In Me galloped badly early and was fourth.
While it was only a trial and Lazarus was not asked for his best, the ease with which Heaven Rocks won suggested he is more forward than the NZ Cup winner, which driver and co-trainer Natalie Rasmussen was quick to confirm. "Lazarus has developed into a real stallion, very big and thick through the neck and the shoulder so he is taking a little longer to come up," says Rasmussen.