Fresh from capturing the first edition of the Big Dance with Rustic Steel, Kris Lees will turn his attention to chasing more feature race success at Rosehill.
Rustic Steel could be given an opportunity to win his second $2 million race in the space of four days with Lees confirming the horse is on track to back-up in Saturday’s Five Diamonds (1800m) following his win in the Big Dance at Randwick on Melbourne Cup Day.
“It was always in the plan, but he needed to run well (in the Big Dance),” Lees said.
Lees will monitor Rustic Steel in the coming days before making a final decision but says initial indications are that the horse has pulled up well.
Buoying Lees’ optimism is the fact Rustic Steel has had success off a quick back-up before, winning the Scone Cup in May six days after taking out The Coast at Gosford.
The Novacastrian trainer will also have a strong hand in the Group 2 Hot Danish Stakes (1400m) with imported Australian Bloodstock-owned mares Night Of Romance and Samoot.
Doing her early racing in England and Ireland, Night Of Romance is a two-time winner at the distance and while she is only recently out of quarantine, Lees has been unable to fault her.
“It’s hard to line her up but she has worked well enough to be competitive,” Lees said.
“They don’t get many wrong Australian Bloodstock, and they said it’s the right race for her.”
Samoot is in her second Australian preparation and has shaped well this spring, following a midweek win at Canterbury with a closing second to Titanium Power at Randwick last month.
She will need to lift again to be competitive in stakes grade, but she has continued to please her trainer to earn herself a shot at some valuable black-type.
“Samoot, she’s jumping a few grades but she’s in really good form,” Lees said.
“Her three runs back have been terrific.
“She is ready for the 1400 and it’s a good opportunity for a nicely bred mare to run in a stakes race.”
A victory by either would continue a heady week for syndicators Australian Bloodstock after they combined with Ciaron Maher and David Eustace to win Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup with Gold Trip.