Keayang Zahara's connections eye Inter Dominion return

CHAMPION trotting mare Keayang Zahara (Volstead) won’t be back in action until well into next year.

Co-trainer Paddy Lee said she would definitely miss Victoria’s summer riches and Group 1 Hammerhead Mile at Menangle in March.

“The Inter Dominion is the aim,” he said.

“She’s just finished her rehab and is heading now for a six-week spell, so that’ll give you a bit of a timeline.”

It means the suspensory ligament injury will have prevented Keayang Zahara from racing for at least a year.

She hasn’t raced since that dazzling win in the TAB Trot at Cambridge on April 10.

The daughter of Volstead has raced 29 times for 28 wins and a second.

An amazing 15 of those wins have been at Group 1 level, which gives her a share of the Australasian record by a trotter with the great Lyell Creek.

Lee is hopeful but stopped short of saying he was confident she would make a successful return.

“You always hope so and so far so good, but there’s always a worry when they’ve had a suspensory (ligament) issue,” he said.

by Adam Hamilton for Harness Racing Australia