A spot of last-minute Christmas shopping almost cost Sue Barrington the chance to race potentially one of Australasia's all-time harness racing great pacers.
The Palmerston North women was the winner of a promotion, made possible by the generosity of Lazarus' owners, that saw her hold a 10 per cent share in the star pacer for the McMillan's Waikato Flying Mile on Friday night.
Lazarus' one-and-three-quarter length win in the $60,000 race netted Barrington $2,550 but the once-in-a-lifetime experience outweighed her owner's cheque.
"It was an amazing experience, a night to remember," Barrington said.
But Barrington has revealed it was an almost an opportunity lost.
She was on course at Cambridge for the Christmas Eve meeting and filled in the entry form to own Lazarus for a night.
With a large crowd at the meeting, all hoping to hear their name drawn, Barrington did not give the competition a second thought when she left the course early to pick up a couple of last-minute Christmas presents.
The winner had only 15 minutes to claim their prize before a re-draw and Barrington will be forever grateful that she managed to get back to the presentation area with only seconds remaining.
"I got back there with literally less than a minute to spare. It was a bit like a fairytale."
Donating the share was the brainchild of Trevor Casey, who races Lazarus with Kevin Riseley, Phil and Glenys Kennard.
"The owners were all amazing, lovely people. They made sure I was the one holding the cup, they were fantastic," Barrington said.
Barrington is not a stranger to harness racing, but she is no tragic either.
A friend of Cambridge trainer Colin Butler, she often follows his horses and although the name Lazarus sounded familiar, she was blissfully unaware the horse she was racing for the night, could go on to be one of the all-time greats.
"People were saying to me before the race your money is safe because he was expected to win."
But Barrington was so impressed by the calm nature of the four-year-old entire, she was uncertain if he would have enough fire in his belly.
"When I went down to see him before the race, I couldn't believe what a quiet horse he was. He was so calm and casual I was thinking how can this horse win?
"I've been around stallions before and people usually stand by them to make sure they don't bite anyone or do anything silly but he was as calm as anything."
"He's truly an amazing horse," she said.
Barrington said the thrill of being a winning owner was something she would never forget, but admitted to feeling anxious before and during the race.
"When he was going around I was really nervous.
"When you put a bet on you get a little nervous but this was much worse."
As part of Barrington's package, she will receive a DVD of the victory and a framed winners' photo to remember the special night.
Racing Lazarus might have been a one-night affair, but the New Zealand Trotting Cup winner has won a new fan in Barrington.
"I'll be watching him when he goes to Australia that's for sure," she said.
Daryl Boko won his first race in New Zealand when winning the Group III Trotters Flying Stakes for trainer Tim Butt, but such is Lazarus's pulling power he stole the show on Friday night.
Following the win, Purdon took the winner of more than 1.5m in stakes down the outside rail so his many fans could get a personal encounter with the emerging star – just like he used to do with Auckland Reactor.
MAT KERMEEN