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By Graeme White

Leading trainer Kris Lees has two of the favoured runners as he attempts to win another Two Rivers Wines Muswellbrook Gold Cup (1500m) on Friday.

Lees will be represented by early equal favourite Hosier ($5 on TAB) and topweight Gem Song ($8), while last year’s winning trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have Journalism ($5.50) as their runner in The Big Dance qualifier.

Lees captured the 2021 Cup with Itz Lily, while Waterhouse-Bott and jockey Winona Costin were successful 12 months ago courtesy of Regal Stage.

Trainer Tracey Bartley finished second last year with Miss Redouble and is back again with Kiss Sum ($8.50).

Aramayo (Ashley Morgan) on the way to the barriers at Newcastle. Image by Bradley Photographers

Former Muswellbrook trainer Sam Kavanagh, who is now based at Newcastle, ran fourth in the 2021 Cup with Sikandarabad and will saddle up the well performed Aramayo ($23) on Friday.

Aramayo is the winner of $1.7 million and was second in the Group 1 2021 Epsom before Kavanagh took over his training for his past five starts.

The present Heavy 8 surface isn’t what Aramayo prefers and Kavanagh will make a decision on a definite start closer to scratching time.

“If the track is a slow six or better he will start. I would love to get him into The Big Dance because a mile at Randwick is his go,” he said.

“The horse hasn’t won for a couple of years, but I think he can win a country cup and get into a Big Dance.

“The plan is to run him in the Tamworth and Scone Cups and see if he can qualify.”

Kavanagh added Aramayo has done his job for his owners winning “about $160,000 for his purchase price of $100,000”.

“He is a sound and happy horse who has travelled around the place to race and he has done well during his career” he added.

“It’s hard to keep a horse at their absolute top level and he isn’t where he was a couple of years ago, but he is still capable of winning one of these country cups.”

Trainer Bjorn Baker and jockey Rachel King will combine with Ita ($21) who will back-up within six days after finishing third at Rosehill Gardens last Saturday.

Baker finished third in the Muswellbrook Cup with Arapaho last year and only last Saturday the well performed galloper with King aboard captured the Group 1 Tancred Stakes.

“I would love to win the Cup and we have been having a good run of late. These country cups are hard to win and you can see what Arapaho has done since he was placed last year,” Baker said.

“Ita has had a couple of runs back and can run a big race on Friday.”

Muswellbrook trainer Ben Lees only needs one horse to scratch to gain a start with emergency Apache Jewel ($101).

Lees is the only Muswellbrook trainer with a starter in the cup with the race dominated by the major stables.

View the final fields with full form & race replays for Muswellbrook here