WHEN news broke in back May champion pacer Lazarus had been sold and run his last race in Australia, a wave of shock, disappointment and even frustrating swept through the Australasian harness racing industry.

Now, less than four months later, it could be just the spark the sport needs in this part of the world.

Not only did the harness industry unite as one for the build-up, the victory itself and the afterglow to Lazarus’ US debut win last Saturday, but it spread wider.

Gallops fans and the broader sporting community knew about it, even talked about.

In New Zealand, Lazarus’ win was the lead item on one of the TV channel’s sport update during the nightly news.

Social media went into a frenzy and Lazarus’ trended across Australia, NZ and the US.

If you thought that was big, imagine the level of interest when he steps out next time, most likely in a qualifying heat of the Canadian Derby at Woodbine Mohawk Park on August 25. The Derby final is a week later.

Think back to the buzz around Winx’s possible Royal Ascot raid. It didn’t make sense for her go, but had she made the trip it would have been monstrous.

Lazarus is harness racing’s Winx, but he’s a stallion so making his name in the US adds multiples to his value as a genuine dual-hemisphere breeding prospect.

And winning so impressively first-up in the $US325,000 Dan Patch at Hoosier Park in Indiana last Saturday is a massive step towards that.

His driver Yannick Gingras made it clear Lazarus has plenty of scope for improvement, despite being so impressive in a slick 1min 48.8sec mile.

“It was a perfect starting point. We got to show how good he is and without having to put him under any strain,” he said.

“He hadn’t raced since February, he come from the other side of the world and only had one qualifier going into it … he’s obviously going to get better and better.”

Beyond the Canadian Derby final on September 1, logical options for Lazarus include the Hoosier Park Derby on September 21 and a $US500,000 free-for-all at the notoriously fast Red Mile track in Lexington, Kentucky on October 7.

The ultimate target is the Breeders Crown heats and final at Mohegan Sun Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania on October 20 and 28.

At the height of his dominant 35 wins from just 45 starts Down Under, some said Lazarus was up with any pacer Australasia has produced, and possibly the best in the world right now.

The next few months will answer both those questions.