Australian sensation Keayang Zahara targets Cambridge
Adam Hamilton • February 15th, 2026 11:41 AM
Cambridge is the next major target for Australian trotting queen Keayang Zahara.
The freakish five-year-old made it 25 wins from 26 starts when she cruised to victory in her heat and final of the Great Southern Star at Melton last night.
And she banked a new $500,000 bonus in the process, to go along with the actual $153,900 prize money she banked.
In a coup for NZ fans, co-trainer Paddy Lee said Keayang Zahara would bypass the Group 1 Hammerhead Mile at Menangle on March 14 to focus on the $600,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge on April 10.
“Cambridge is the focus now,” he said. “She’ll probably come back here (Melton) in two weeks for another Group 1 ($60,000 Grand Prix) and then we’ll get ready for NZ.
“That Menangle mile is a really hard race on them and we really want to peak her for Cambridge.”
Lee confirmed the stable would have two slots in the TAB Trot.
“It’ll either be Jilliby Ballerini or Jilliby Dreamlover in the other slot,” he said. “Ballerini will probably come back here in two weeks, but run in the mares’ race the same night as the Grand Prix.
“She’s had a few little issues in the past couple of weeks, so we may give her a bit of a break after that, but we’ll see how she is then.”
Keayang Zahara led throughout to beat Jilliby Ballerini with Jilliby Dreamlover third and stable trifecta for the Lee clan in the Great Southern Star final.
Paddy Lee admitted there was as much relief as excitement when Keayang Zahara romped home and banked the $500,000 bonus.
“That was a long six weeks,” he sighed. “I’m glad it’s over and she got the job done.”
Keayang Zahara set-up her bonus tilt by winning three key lead-up races, the Maori Mile, along with the Ballarat and Cranbourne Trotters’ Cups.
“We’re glad we had the three wins and could skip Kilmore to give us two weeks into tonight,” Lee said.
Keayang Zahara cruised home in the first of the two Great Southern Star heats in a very cosy 1min58.2sec mile rate for 1720m, beating stablemate Jilliby Ballerini, who sat outside her.
Jilliby Dreamlover led throughout to win the second heat comfortably from last year’s TAB Trot and Inter Dominion winner Arcee Phoenix.
Rivals were dealt a mortal blow in the final when Jilliby Dreamlover, Jilliby Ballerini and Keayang Zahara drew barriers one, two and three respectively.
As expected, Jilliby Balllerini crossed Jilliby Dreamlover at the start and then took a trail on Keayang Zahara.
That’s how they finished with Keayang Zahara winning by 8.7m over Jilliby Ballerini, with another 8.1m away to Jilliby Dreamlover.
“She’s just a freak this mare, next level,” driver Jason Lee said. “Any queries I had about backing up for two runs in a night were gone as soon as I got out on the track to warm-up for the final.
“You dream of being in these big races let alone winning them. You see others win them and think how cool it would be to do it one day.
“I’m really happy for Marg (Lee) and Paddy more than myself. They’ve been trying to win this race for five or six years now.”
Asked about the bonus, Jason Lee said: “Money isn’t everything, but we’ll have a decent party with that money.”
