Newly crowned Inter Dominion hero Lazarus will race six times in three Australian states in 36 days to kick off 2018.
The champion five-year-old is set to return to the track at Gloucester Park in Perth on January 5 and the following two Fridays there before travelling to Victoria for the A$500,000 Hunter Cup at Melton on February 3.
And trainer Mark Purdon will be back on the sulky for all four races.
Lazarus has been having an easy time in West Australia since his argument-ending Interdom win on December 8 in which he sat parked to thrash Australia's best pacers.
In the very next race that night Purdon had his reinsman's licence suspended for 26 days for pushing out driving stablemate Ultimate Machete and still hasn't heard about when his appeal against that sentence will be heard.
"I was hoping we would have heard an appeal date by now but I won't be going back to Perth for that hearing, we have a QC over there to handle that," said Purdon.
The suspension leaves Purdon's chance of driving Auckland Cup favourite Vincent up in the air but regardless of how the appeal goes Lazarus will miss a race in Perth that was being mooted for him on December 29.
"If he races next on January 5 then I can drive him no matter what happens in the appeal so that will be his next race," says Purdon.
"I will go over and drive him in that, then stay there and train him myself for the Freemantle Cup (Jan 12) and the WA Cup (Jan 19)."
Stablemate Have Faith In Me is also likely to contest the latter two group ones as he races on through the summer before heading to North America under new ownership.
Michael Guerin