The rising star comes into the Southland feature at Ascot Park tomorrow with all kinds of ticks next to his name.
He is in great form, has been beginning brilliantly in recent standing starts and has proven himself at group 1 level.
It is the last of those which means Butt will head into the Invercargill Cup with the utmost confidence in his pacer.
A brilliant effort in the recent The Christian Cullen confirmed everything Butt already suspected about The Lazarus Effect.
"He did plenty of work and went great. He proved he can tough it out at that level," his trainer-driver said.
"I always knew he had plenty of speed, but coming through the grades he was always a hot favourite and he didn’t have to be as tough.
"To run second to Kingman like he did, it showed he is going to be pretty versatile in that top grade."
The way The Lazarus Effect has been beginning, he looks a serious chance of being the first of the big chances to find the front in the Invercargill Cup.
However, Butt knows you cannot make too many plans before the tapes release in a group 1 race.
"He has been beginning brilliantly but it will come down to what happens on the day."
"He has got the trip down there and it’s a new track and it is a group 1, anything could ping away fast."
"We have got to hope he does begin as well as he has been because staying in front of the backmarkers is going to be important."
From the front line, The Lazarus Effect gets a 10m buffer on Alta Meteor and a 20m head-start on favourite and defending champion Republican Party.
If the 4-year-old can get away quickly and get near the pace, a repeat of Butt’s tactics in his brilliant win at Kaikoura in November could be in order.
"We let him roll along at Kaikoura and he was good. It is a similar track and it would be good if he could do something like that."
With just 12 starts, The Lazarus Effect is the baby of the Invercargill Cup field.
The next least experienced competitor is 33-start campaigner Wag Star.
