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Not many horses rolling up to a mid-winter meeting in Sydney's west have ambitions of stakes success in the spring, but Kris Lees is one hoping to buck the trend with Brook Road at Rosehill on Saturday.
Forced to abandon similarly lofty goals in the autumn after the mare failed to fire in two starts, Lees is already eyeing off the early carnival riches with the Australian Bloodstock-owned four-year-old next month.
"The plan will be now that she's up and going will be to get to some of those earlier stakes races if her form warrants it," Lees said. "They start again next month so it comes around pretty quick.
"I had high expectations [in the autumn], but she just didn't seem to be right. We made excuses first-up and I think the firm tracks just might have taken its toll a little early in the prep. We had to stop and put her out which you sometimes have to do with mares.
"You try different things, but sometimes it's right in front of you and you've just got to pull up stumps and start again."
Pulling up stumps seemed to be a very shrewd move when Brook Road ambled to victory over the same course and distance as she will tackle again with the premiership-chasing Blake Shinn up.
Free-wheeling stablemate Senta De Noche was the focus of an extraordinary plunge in the race last time, but weakened badly in the straight as Brook Road sailed to victory.
Lees has the pair against pitted against each other in Sydney, but remains guarded about whether Senta De Noche will start.
"It's the first time he has been right down in the weights [in a while]," Lees said.
"I'm still a little undecided whether he will run. I'll just see how much the track improves. I won't run him on a heavy track and I've also got him nominated for the Kirby at Grafton. I don't know which way we'll go yet."
Bookmakers are a little bit more certain about where both of Lees' runners should rest in the market, with Ladbrokes installing Brook Road a $3.20 favourite while Senta De Noche is being shopped at $21.
Lees' two-pronged attack won't just be restricted to the seventh event at Rosehill with the Newcastle trainer accepting with both mudlark Electric Power and Savoureux in the fifth.
"Both mares are in form and I'd be forgiving of Savoureux on that bottomless Randwick track, but she's come through it quite well," he said.
"Electric Power is a mare which has been up forever, but she keeps racing well and we want to make use of her through winter in the wet. Both have good credentials."
Lee's team will also feature two-year-old Knit 'N' Purl (race one) and resuming stayer Artibai (race eight), but perhaps most interest will surround the lightly-raced Land Grant in the fourth.
The Brenton Avdulla mount has already won twice at the provincials from just four starts and Lees has no hesitation throwing him into the deep end at Rosehill.
"He's a progressive horse, but it's a big step from a Class 1 at Newcastle straight to Saturday grade," he said. "He's only got a few weeks to go before he turns four so we're trying to get him into a couple of three-year-old races to see where he's at. I think he'll hold his own."
