“GUARD” WILL BE BETTER FOR FIRST-UP RUN

KRIS Lees says Changingoftheguard will be “better for the run” at his spring

campaign opener at Royal Randwick tomorrow.

This year’s Sydney Cup winner and Newcastle Horse Of The Year begins a new campaign in the Group 3 Premier’s Cup (2000m) with 59.5kg topweight.

“Changingoftheguard trialled well at the Beaumont track earlier in the month (second to yesterday’s Hawkesbury Rowley Mile placegetter Juja Kibo over 1200m), and is coming up nicely,” Lees said this morning.

“He could run a race if there’s enough pressure up the front, but that may not occur with a small field (eight runners). He will definitely be better for the run.”

Lees has taken blinkers off Changingoftheguard for his return.

“They will go back on later in the campaign,” he explained.

Lees did this twice last season, putting the shades on when he ran in the 'top 10' in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington last November, and then when he won the Sydney Cup at Randwick over the same distance in April.

Tim Clark, who partnered Changingoftheguard in the Melbourne Cup, is back on the gelding tomorrow.

Whilst Lees says there are no set plains with Changingoftheguard’s lead-up campaign, he is hoping to have another crack at the Melbourne Cup on November 3 with him.

Lees has withdrawn Infancy from the Group 3 Toy Show Quality (1100m) against her own sex at Randwick to instead tackle the Group 3 Show County Quality (1200m), and Dylan Gibbons has the mount.

“There are a couple of very smart four-year-old mares (Savvy Hallie and Apocalyptic) in the Toy Show, and the Show County looks the better option,” Lees said.

“Infancy likes Randwick, and I’m expecting her to run well.”

Lees won’t have a representative at tomorrow’s Doomben meeting, with recent Coffs Harbour Cup runner-up Loch Eagle (Aaron Bullock) and Pier Pressure (Ben Osmond) both contesting today’s Big Dance Eligibility Murwillumbah Cup (1550m).

His other Doomben acceptors Barazin and Naughty Nurse also will run today, at Murwillumbah and Beaudesert respectively.

Meanwhile. Lees’ talented three-year-old Under Focus has come through well from his eye-catching first-up Listed Rosebud (1100m) sixth at Rosehill Gardens last Saturday.

“Under Focus will go four weeks to the Group 2 Run To The Rose (1200m) at Rosehill on September 12 en route to the $1m Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes (1400m) there a fortnight later,” Lees said.

Rivellino trialled for the second time this campaign at Gosford last Tuesday, and will trial again before resuming.

However stablemate Night Agent, another promising young horse, who won his 1000m Gosford trial, is ready to begin a new campaign in town in a fortnight.

This year’s Provincial-Midway Championships Final winner Lord Of Biscay and last December’s Group 3 Summer Cup winner Tavi Time also trialled at Gosford, and will go back to the trials a second time before resuming. STORY BY JOHN CURTIS, AUGUST 21, 2026. PICS BRADLEY PHOTOS