‘Blue’ lightning?

It will be a case of “we are the champions” if young Anakie trainer Matthew Lanigan’s Keep It Blue wins the Lightning Frank Derby final (450m) at Warrnambool on Thursday night.

Keep It Blue – aka “Mercury” – gets his sobriquet from Queen’s late legendary frontman Freddie Mercury.

Ironically, the 21-month-old rising star is hitting the high notes but faces his biggest stage in the $7500-to-the-winner event.

“I threw him into the deep end in last week’s heats and I was really proud of his run,” Lanigan said.