It was fitting that the trainer who contests more country cups than any other trainer, Kris Lees, prevailed in the inaugural $2million Big Dance as flamboyant jockey Frankie Dettori bombed out in another rich Australian race.
A solid Randwick crowd were treated to brilliant Sydney sunshine but no post-race celebratory theatrics from Dettori, who finished last on Hosier.
Rustic Steel holds off Cisco Bay in The Big Dance.Credit:Steve Hart Photographics
Hosier ($7) pulled up sore on the hard ground, and Dettori knew his hopes of winning the city’s flashy new race were over around the same time he trotted the horse to the starting gates at the famous mile.
“I struggled to warm him up; he was really feeling the ground. I got him all the way down to the 1000m and trotted him back, but I could tell he didn’t like the surface,” Dettori said after the race.
“He fluffed the start and struggled to keep up. By the time we got to the 700m he was done. And he pulled up sore. He’s probably never run on this kind of ground.
“I’ve loved it here. Everyone has been fabulous. It’s a shame I didn’t win, but it’s been a great experience.”
Dettori was open to returning next year for another Big Dance if he was not granted his wish of trying to win the Melbourne Cup, which is one major race that has eluded the globetrotting jockey.
The race when to Hosier’s stablemate Rustic Steel – one of four Lees runners in the race. Rustic Steel ($12) hit the front at the 300m under Nash Rawiller and survived a late charge from Cisco Bay ($9.50), with Sibaaq ($6.50 eq fav) third.
Lees showed some rare emotion, and his wife of 21 years, Kristy, revealed that she stayed the night in Sydney to leave her husband at home in Newcastle to collect his thoughts.
“I might have to do that every time now,” Kristy said with a smile.
“I think he felt a lot of pressure, especially having four runners in the race; it’s a relief one of them got there.
“He’ll be much more relaxed tonight. He might even let his hair down.”
Lees’ home in the Hunter allows him to start plenty of horses up and down the coast. The Big Dance was designed to reward cup winners all around the state. If there was one knock on the new plaything of Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys, it was the timing of the race, with the 2.20pm start akin to a 5.30pm bistro feed.
Rustic Steel won the Scone Cup, and Lees put him away immediately with the Big Dance in mind. Not content with the Randwick win, Lees will back Rustic Steel up in the Five Diamonds at Rosehill on Saturday over 1800m.
“When you target races from May, you want everything to go right,” Lees said.
“We know with horses things can go wrong. I went to Melbourne last Saturday for one runner, and it got kicked behind the barrier before the race and was scratched.
“The Five Diamonds is not an afterthought [for Rustic Steel]. It was always the plan, but he needed to run well today.
“He will need to have come through the firm ground well, but at this stage I want to accept with him.
“He got a lovely ride from Nash. I knew he would be strong. I was just a little concerned that last 100m, but he had enough in the tank.”
Markwell smiling one last time
The late Gwenda Markwell would have been smiling from somewhere high above Royal Randwick when watching Alysha Collett kick home her last-ever runner.
Popular Kembla Grange trainer Markwell passed away on Saturday following a battle with cancer. She was 61.
Nautical Miss was the sentimental favourite in the opening race in Sydney, and Collett made sure she did not disappoint one of her biggest supporters as her name appeared in a race-book a final time.
“To get that last winner for her was fantastic, and she would be up there looking down feeling pretty happy about it all,” Collett said.
“I know if you came in and gave one of her horses a really bad ride, she’d prefer to hear you say sorry rather than try and lie about it. Hopefully, she thought that ride was a ten out of ten.”
Markwell will be farewelled at Kembla next Tuesday.
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