By Jonny Turner
The little brother of a New Zealand Cup great scored a timely win as the lead-up to the $1m feature builds to a fever pitch.
Just one day short of eight years since Lazarus delivered his first devastating New Zealand Cup victory, Sinai Sermon delivered a strong front-running win at Oamaru in the Brad Williamson Racing Stables Mobile Pace.
The younger of the two brothers is trained by David Mitchell who races the four-year-old with Donna Williamson and Gavin Chin.
Chin is co-breeder of the two-time New Zealand Cup winner Lazarus and the owner of his dam Bethany.
The Dunedin harness racing enthusiast was thrilled that Mitchell’s patience was rewarded when Sinai Sermon ran to an overdue win on Thursday.
“The horse has had a few niggling injuries along the way, so he had a long spell and David has been patient with him,” Chin said.
“He has taken a while to wake up to what racing is all about but David thinks he is starting to click on to it now.”
Chin has already had cause for celebration this spring with Bethany delivering another full brother to Lazarus.
The Bettor’s Delight foal and his mother are being cared for by Williamson at her Belmont Park Stud breeding operation in Canterbury.
Chin bred Lazarus with leading breeder Brian West with the pair selling the pacer at the National Yearling Sales.
Watching the horse go on to win two New Zealand Cups and become one of the country’s greatest-ever pacers has given Chin memories he will cherish forever.
“He was a once-in-a-lifetime horse, you hope you can breed a horse as good as him but you don’t expect it to ever happen.”
When Chin owned Lazarus before his sale, he had good hopes for the young colt but there weren’t too many signs he was destined for greatness.
“He was always a very correct horse, he looked like a really nice type but he never looked like one of those rockstar yearlings.”
“He was slightly below average size but just a well-put-together horse.”
Australian star Leap To Fame will get the chance to add the New Zealand Cup to his glittering resume in this year’s edition of the great race.
Also by Bettor’s Delight, the Queenslander is considered Australasia’s biggest star since Lazarus retired to stud.
David Mitchell and driver Carter Dalgety doubled up later on the Oamaru card.
After their win with Sinai Sermon, the trainer and driver combined to win with Deceptive Lee.