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A fine and dry Good Friday has eased the concerns trainer Kris Lees has for his recent stable acquisition Clearly Innocent resuming at Randwick on Saturday.
Clearly Innocent is set to make his debut for the Lees stable in Saturday’s G3 Hall Mark Stakes (1200m) with the weather favouring an upgrade from Thursday’s Heavy 9 rating.
Heavy showers on Wednesday and Thursday night preceded fine drying days that have eased Lees’ concerns about the state of the Randwick track.However he will wait until Saturday morning to assure himself that the track is not too heavy for last year’s brilliant Country Championships Final winner when he was prepared at Scone by the now retired Greg Bennett.
“The horse is going really well but I don’t want to run him first up on a really heavy track,” Lees said.“I can still keep him for the Hawkesbury Rush (1100m) at their stand alone meeting in another fortnight.”
Lees isn’t the only trainer waiting until Saturday morning to finalise race plans for Randwick acceptors.Chris Waller, John O’Shea and David Hayes have concerns about starting members of their teams on a genuine heavy track.
ayes and training partners Tom Dabernig and Ben Hayes are hoping the Heavy 9 rating improves by Saturday morning or Newmarket Handicap winner Redkirk Warrior will miss the G1 All-Aged Stakes.John O’Shea also has reservations about starting the imports Big Blue and Floodlight in the G3 Japan Racing Association unless the track is upgraded while Chris Waller is adamant Preferment will miss that race if the track rating is worse than soft.
Waller says he will send the multiple G1 winner to Queensland for the G2 AD Hollindale Stakes (1800m) at the Gold Coast on May 6 if he does not run at Randwick."There's only one thing to consider and that's the tracks. You won't see him run unless it's at least a soft seven and improving," Waller said.
Kris Lees is putting winkers back on the nine-year-old Slow Pace in the G3 JRA Plate (2000m).The import isn’t the easiest horse to follow but he did win last year’s Listed Wyong Cup (2100m) - his only success in Australia – on a Heavy 10 surface.
“The heavy track will help,” Lees said. “He might be at least a place chance.”Lees’ is giving Knit ‘N’ Purl (Brenton Avdulla) an outside chance in her Benchmark 81 Handicap (1200m).
The mare has won at Randwick on heavy ground and wasn’t far away when sixth to subsequent impressive Provincial Final winner Maryore in the Kembla Grange championships qualifier run at Goulburn on March 23.“She is going to need a bit of luck from an awkward draw, but is certainly capable of figuring in the finish,” Lees said.