By Craig Kerry
Kris Lees expects to see the best of Zaphod at Randwick, after a forgive run, when the Newcastle trainer tries to score another Sydney-Queensland city double on Saturday.
Lees, who has had a satellite stable on the Gold Coast since 2018, won his second Queensland Oaks in three years when You Wahng repeated the feat of 2023 winner Amokura on June 7. Loch Eagle also won at Randwick to cap a memorable day for the stable.
Newcastle trainer Kris Lees.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s been a great asset to the stable,” Lees said of the Gold Coast operation.
“Mandy Jupp does a wonderful job and it works very smoothly. She runs a very tight ship.”
Lees has genuine metropolitan chances across the states again on Saturday. Lutetia ($14 Sportsbet) contests the TL Cooney Stakes and Bubba’s Bay ($11) is in the listed Gai Waterhouse Classic at Ipswich, while Bestower ($3.50) and Barazin ($11) are other runners on the program.
“Bubba’s Bay, she was just taken on all the way last start [when sixth], but now third run in, she should run up to her best,” he said.
“I can see her really turning her form around.
“Bestower is a bit hard to catch but she could easily run well there, and Lutetia is racing consistently and she should run well.”
Zaphod looks Lees’ best chance across the meetings. The import, with three wins and three placings in nine Australian starts, was a $3.10 shot in the sixth, an 1800m benchmark 88 handicap.
The four-year-old was a 25 lengths back in seventh last start on a bottomless Randwick track on May 24, but Lees was expecting a vast improvement.
“He’s raced well the whole time he’s been here, outside of his last run,” he said.
“He’s got a wet-track profile, but he just really struggled on that Randwick track. But it was a day where they were coming in at big intervals. It raced a funny track that day and he had a poor recovery, so I will forgive him for that run.
“He’s worked well since and I can’t fault him. The draw in one is ideal, and he get blinkers on for the first time, so hopefully he can bounce back. I think you’ll see him back to his best.”
Lees also has $20 chance Memoria in the last.
“It’s a bloody good race, but I’m running her because she’s got a paper weight of 51.5kg, so that should see her run well, too,” he said.
He said You Wahng would be aimed at the Matriarch Stakes or the Magic Millions Subzero.
