Racing: Lazarus rise gives trainers smorgasbord of options

The pace is blistering hot at the home turn as Lazarus comes from behind to win the $200,000 Sales Series Pace last night. Photo / Dean Purcell

Now the juggling begins for champion trainers Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen.

Fresh from dominating the age group features at Alexandra Park last night the group one gurus need to work out who goes where as a smorgasbord of opportunities await their freakish three-year-olds.

The all-conquering All Stars Stable provided the quinella in both the $150,000 Sires' Stakes Fillies Championship and the $200,000 Sales Series Pace, both won by the hot favourites.

Golden Goddess overcame a hard run in national record time to defeat Piccadilly Princess, while Lazarus used his gate speed to lead then trail stablemate Chase The Dream before proving too fast for him up the passing lane.

It was no small effort though, the official last 400m of 25.9 seconds one of the fastest ever recorded in New Zealand pacing, with Lazarus coming from behind Chase The Dream he must have paced around 25.7, rarefied air for a three-year-old pacer anywhere in the world.

In any other stable Lazarus would be their pride and joy but in the Purdon-Rasmussen camp there is still no guarantee he is the best classic cropper in their care.

They already have last season's unbeaten juvenile Waikiki Beach domiciled in Sydney, where he will be aimed at the NSW Derby in late February.

Purdon can't be drawn on who is the better of the pair but says the advantage is with Lazarus, who has been there done that in four unbeaten starts this season, including the Sires' Stakes Final and last night's feature.

"Last season there was nothing between them but Waikiki Beach still has to come back and race up to this standard," says Purdon.

With so much talent in the stable Purdon and Rasmussen are going to get over last night's meeting and sit down in a few days and decide who goes where. "I think Lazarus will go to the Victoria Derby in February because he is racing so well," he offers.

"Which means Waikiki Beach will stay in Sydney and probably not head down to Victoria."

Which still leaves them to decide what to do with Chase The Dream, still the only horse to beat Lazarus and twice second at the highest level this season. The same applies in the fillies grade, which Golden Goddess has dominated since her return in November. She looks a freak and the equal of any filly we have seen at this stage of the season but again, the stable has another with a superior record in waiting.

Last season Dream About Me was clearly the best two-year-old filly in Australasia, winning the Jewels and the Breeders Crown and like Waikiki Beach she is in Sydney preparing for a classic, the NSW Oaks on February 28.

"That Oaks would be a likely target for Golden Goddess if we didn't already have Dream About Me there," says Purdon.

"But with her there this filly [Golden Goddess] might stay here and be set for the Northern Oaks.

"But we have some thinking to because these top young horses have a lot of options for huge money."

Nice problem to have.