Lazarus filly claims Group One success at York in the UK

The Kiwis may be covering themselves in gold in Scotland currently in the Commonwealth Games, but there’s another New Zealand connection claiming glory in that part of the world that you may not have heard of.

Lazarus two-year-old filly, Queenstown, was a Group One winner of the Blossom Kelly  at York Raceway in England last week, and has become a bit of a star in the juvenile ranks.

Trained by Gordon Gilvear of Stirling in Scotland, Queenstown has had just two race day starts for a Group One and Group Two victory.

Queenstown

Her Group One win in the Blossom Kelly saw her find the lead early from three off the mobile, setting terms in front. But the fireworks soon began with 400m to go, and Queenstown was taken relentlessly into the home turn.

 However she was soon able to show her strong will to win and stamina, holding off the challenges and leaving race rivals in her wake as she pulled away to win by two lengths.

The previous Group Two win came at just her first race start in the North Wales Two-Year-Old Fillies Championship at Tir Prince Raceway in North Wales.

On that occasion Queenstown was allowed to find her tempo early, settling third with cover in the field of ten during the running, before being forced to sit parked over the final 600m.

 However once asked to quicken, the Lazarus filly put a distance on the opposition on the home turn and cleared out to win easily with minimal urging from Gordon, winning by a length from her closest rival.

Queenstown is owned by Steven Gilvear, and the Gilvear family, and harness racing is a real family event for them all, gathering on weekends and travelling around the United Kingdom to various race meetings.

Queenstown has proven to be a popular member of the team, even before her unbeaten race streak began.

 “She is a really lovely filly, really kind and quiet around the stable. She’s never given us any trouble whatsoever.”

 “She’s a real sweetheart around the barn and everybody loves her.”

 “There’s not a lot of size to her, but that doesn’t worry us at all. She’s actually a late foal, born in June, not that that really matters once they get going.”

Gordon qualified Queenstown in June of this year, taking her to trials twice for education on both grit and grass tracks.

 “She did that well, without being spectacular, she just went out and did the job well. But she’s really stepped up and had two starts for two wins, both in Group races.”

The journey for the Gilvears to acquire the Lazarus filly started with a trip to purchase a new broodmare, which took them to the States in search of a suitable acquisition.

“My Uncle Steven has to take the credit for getting the filly,” Gordon explained.

 “He buys the horses and I train them, look after them and drive them.”

“He went over to the Harrisburg sales in the United States and was looking for another broodmare, he found Zane Hanover who is a Somebeachsomewhere mare and bought her in foal to Lazarus, so we shipped her back home.”

“So Queenstown was the resulting foal and she was born here in Scotland.”

The Gilvear’s were thrilled to be able to purchase Zane Hanover, and being in foal to Lazarus was an extra bonus for the family who follow international harness racing.

“I am a big fan of harness racing down under, so I followed Lazarus and his racing career closely. He was a tremendous racehorse, you couldn’t help but love him and the way he raced.”

 “I was a huge fan of him, he was a fantastic racehorse there is no doubt about it. So we had no hesitation in buying the mare in foal to him.”

“There are actually two or three foals here by Lazarus racing, including a five-year-old mare and a really nice two-year-old colt, Martinez The Knife, in Ireland.”

The sport of harness racing has a strong following in the United Kingdom, on a smaller scale than other countries, but has a big community involved.

“It’s small here compared to the likes of the US, or Sweden and France,” Gordon explained.

 “There are a few semi professional guys with larger stables, but it’s more of an amateur type of sport.”

“Here in Scotland we lost the only track we really had a couple of years ago, it’s been developed into housing. So we have a grass track we use here and we have to travel down to England and Wales to race on a hard track. That’s where the bigger races are.”

The travel from Stirling (located between Glasgow and Edinburgh) is a four to five hour drive each way for Gordon and the horses to compete, but it means the family get to travel away and enjoy the racing together.

“It is a real family thing for us. I am a third generation horseman, my grandfather got me into racing and we are cattle farmers in Central Scotland.”

 “The horses are a bit of a hobby for us, and my job is to train them and look after them. So my grandfather and my Dad really helped me get into that side of things.”

“My Uncle Steven of course is involved and my son and nephew have shown an interest in it as well.”

 “Sadly, we lost my Dad earlier this year which was a big loss for our family, but we have kept going and kept at it. The sport actually helps our family get together and we spend a lot of weekends away with the racing.”

Including broodmares, Gordon has a team of around 20 horses he cares for and works with.

 “I usually have about six or seven in work at a time, we go all year, and there is the young stock I get to work with as well.”

Queenstown seeks to continue her winning record when she competes in the famous Vincent Delaney Memorial on August 7th and 8th.

 The series is held for two and three-year-olds, racing in categories for fillies and colts and geldings, and has become a must attend meeting for many international harness racing fans.

 Visitors from all over the world attend, with a party atmosphere and feature racing over the two-day carnival.

It will present Queenstown with her biggest challenge to date, with heats to be run on the Friday, and the final on the Saturday.

 “It’s our richest race and there will be a few nice horses over in Ireland coming for that. But we are lucky that she is a contender in it, and we are delighted to have her racing in it.”

Lazarus will also be represented by his two-year-old colt, Martinez The Knife, in the colts and geldings division of the series. He is trained and driven by John Richardson.

It could potentially present Lazarus with a unique and special addition to his record at stud, but he’s already now a Group One producing sire in three countries.