KRIS Lees has just about done it all on his hometown track. The trainer has ticked off the Newcastle Cup, Cameron Handicap, the old Newmarket and, only 12 months ago, the race named in honour of his late father Max.
However, victory in what’s now the club’s richest event, The Hunter, with prizemoney worth $1 million since launching in 2019, has managed to elude Lees. But only just.
He was runner-up straight off the bat three times in a row via Tactical Advantage, Special Reward and Wandabaa. Gem Song finished 12th at Broadmeadow in 2022 while, most recently, Rustic Steel posted back-to-back fifths. “You always want to win your feature race at home,” Lees said. “The Newcastle Cup is still a feature race, but from a money aspect, it’s certainly this one [The Hunter]. “We ran second the first three years, so hoping to go one better one day. Whether it’s this week or not, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Now, approaching the seventh edition of The Hunter, sponsored by the Newcastle Herald, Lees has both Brudenell and Infancy in Saturday’s group 2 mix.
Six-year-old gelding Brudenell is a 10-time race winner, including twice at listed level in Melbourne, while five-year-old mare Infancy, sporting the Australian Bloodstock colours, could more than double career earnings if successful.
“I’ve been pleased with how both of them are racing,” Lees said.
“Infancy went down to Melbourne and didn’t have a great deal of luck down the straight, but will be better suited here at Newcastle. Albeit in strong company, but she’s a group 2 winner. “And the other bloke [Brudenell] is a stakes performer himself.”
Lees says Newcastle Racecourse’s rich 1300-metre sprint has “grown from strength to strength”.
The honour roll already includes inaugural winner Savatiano, Everest runner Lost and Running as well as last year’s champion Briasa, who went on to claim a group 1 TJ Smith less than six months later.
Nominations for 2025 include Joseph Pride-prepared Coal Crusher, saluting in The Hunter two years ago and third last time around, along with Bjorn Baker topweights Iowna Merc and Robusto, and in-form Yorkshire after opening with only wins (six) and placings (two) from eight starts.
Newcastle Jockey Club chief executive officer Duane Dowell feels like many trainers are now utilising The Hunter as a “target” for race planning. “It’s no longer really an afterthought from some trainers,” Dowell said after The Hunter’s official launch at Nobbys Beach on Tuesday. “I think they’re targeting The Hunter from one month out or even a bit further. “That probably shows the importance of the race to the industry, and not to mention how important it is to us.”
Less than one month on from climbing The Kosciuszko, worth $2m, Scone-based training duo Paul Messara and Leah Gavranich need to wait and see if Clear Thinking gets a run in The Hunter.
The six-year-old mare was ranked 19th in the order of entry with 16 runners eventually being accepted. I’d love to see her get in there because she’d have no weight, 1300 will suit her and she’d give it a shake for sure,” Dowell said.
Final fields for Newcastle’s stand-alone metropolitan meeting will be officially released by Racing NSW on Wednesday. The group 3 Spring Stakes (1600m) and listed The Beauford (2300m), worth a combined $550,000 in prizemoney, are also part of this weekend’s program. Bendigo Cup starter Age Of Sail races the latter for Lees while Darren Treacy, who played almost 200 NRL games, looks to saddle up Ghayoor in the former.
THE HUNTER HONOUR ROLL
2019 – Savatiano
2020 – Sweet Deal
2021 – Lost And Running
2022 – Vilana
2023 – Coal Crusher
2024 – Briasa
Photo Credit: Marina Neill