KRIS Lees is eyeing a Coffs Harbour Cup hat-trick if he pulls the pin on a Rosehill Gardens start tomorrow for Acquitted.
The last start Winter Stakes runner-up (beaten by stablemate Ucalledit at Royal Randwick a fortnight ago) is not certain to line up in the Winter Challenge (1500m).
“I’ll wait and see how the track conditions are in the morning, but at this stage I’m not sure about running him as there doesn’t appear to be any rain in Sydney,” Lees said this morning.
“If we don’t run, he will go to the Coffs Harbour Cup in a fortnight’s time.”
Lees has won the last two 1600m Cups with Itz Lily (Alysha Collett) in 2021 and Hosier (Hugh Bowman) last year, and there is an extra incentive to win the $150,000 feature on August 4 for a third consecutive year, with Acquitted.
The Coffs Harbour Cup carries eligibility for The Big Dance over the same distance at Royal Randwick on November 7, for which RacingNSW has boosted prizemoney from $2m to $3m.
Lees won last year’s inaugural running with Rustic Steel, ridden by Nash Rawiller.
Australian Bloodstock-raced Acquitted, whose three of his four wins have been on heavy tracks, was an excellent second to Ucalledit in the Winter Stakes (1400m) after striking trouble at a vital stage in the straight.
Lees has three Randwick acceptors, but has already withdrawn The Bopper, who was due to resume in the July Sprint (1100m).
“The Bopper is in good order, but with the rail out seven metres, I decided not to run him,” he explained.
“We will wait for another day.”
The very consistent Brudenell may be his sole representative at the meeting, in the Benchmark 78 Handicap (1200m).
Lees’ gun apprentice Dylan Gibbons, who goes into tomorrow’s fixture with a two-win lead over Zac Lloyd in the junior riding premiership, partners So Good So Cool against Brudenell.
“I was going to wait another week with Brudenell, and decided to run when it didn’t come up a big field (four withdrawals have already reduced the field to eight), and that’s why Dylan was booked for another runner,” he explained.
“Brudenell is going well, has an inside draw and makes his own luck by putting himself up on the speed.
“There’s no reason why he won’t run well again.”
. Lees’ sole Brisbane representative is Snowzone, who has a particular affinity with the Doomben track, and will contest the Open Handicap (1200m).
The rising seven-year-old has won 10 races since beginning his career with a second placing in the Max Lees Classic (900m) at Newcastle in December, 2018.
Six of those wins have been at Doomben, and he has also been placed the same number of times there, and eight of his wins have been at tomorrow’s distance.
Snowzone began another campaign when runner-up to Sneaky Five in an 1110m Handicap at Doomben a fortnight ago.
“He has come up every campaign, and has been a terrific horse for his owners and stable, earning more than half a million dollars in prizemoney,” Lees said.
“My concern tomorrow is that he has drawn awkwardly, and I will live it up to his rider Andrew Mallyon whether he goes forward or back.
“Irrespective, Snowzone is in good order and should be competitive again.”
Lees also has Prime Impact engaged in the Class 1 Handicap (1600m) at Gosford tomorrow, but is yet to confirm a start for the recent Taree Maiden (1412m) winner when a $1.40 hotpot.
*Words John Curtis, July 21, 2023 - Pics Steve Hart Photographics*
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