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By Gary Harley

Gai Waterhouse and Kris Lees have both won four Group 3 Newcastle Newmarkets and the pair will have representatives in Friday’s $200,000 Group 3 Newcastle Stakes, formerly the Newcastle Newmarket - the major event in the first half of the year for Newcastle Jockey Club.

Horsepower will sponsor the race, which was first run in 1955 when Waterhouse’s father, the late great TJ Smith trained the winner Seacraft.

The Waterhouse-Bott partnership has not trained a winner of this race, but the stable has a great chance on Friday.

Cross Talk (Jean Van Overmeire) in winning form at Rosehill Gardens. Image by Steve Hart Photographics

The training partnership will saddle up the firm $2.20 TAB favourite Cross Talk which will be ridden by Tim Clark, and the Kiwi bred five-year-old has drawn well in the barrier three.

A natural front-runner Cross Talk, winner of five of his 11 starts with five placings is beautifully weighted with 54½kg on his back.

Clark has never ridden the winner of Friday’s feature, however, he is confident of victory on Friday.

“Cross Talk had a big weight first-up when runner-up and he is so well placed on Friday. I have had a quick glance at the field, and we should lead and then quicken from the 700m.

"Cross talk is very well weighted. I have won a couple of Newcastle Camerons, but not this race,” Clark said.

Waterhouse won four Newmarkets before Bott arrived on the scene, being Secret Savings (1997), Hey Pronto (2002), Platinum Scissors (2004) and Laser Hawk (2015).

Lees has won the last four Newmarkets, all raced by Australian Bloodstock Syndications. They were Princess Posh (2019), Special Reward (2020), Gem Song (2021) and Wandabaa (2022).

On Friday, Lees’s representatives are Gem Song ($18) and Bellatrix Black ($19). Gem Song has 59kg and stable apprentice Dylan Gibbons has the mount, and the gelding has raced against top sprinters throughout his career.

He has won seven with seven placings from 29 starts, and his prizemoney tally stands at $849,345. He has a good first-up record and hasn’t raced since The Hunter in November, but Gem Song had a quiet trial recently.

Bellatrix Black is a four-year-old New Zealand mare who races in the Australian Bloodstock colours. She has won two with two seconds from seven starts, and she wasn’t far away first-up in the Group 3 Triscay Stakes recently.

Tracey Bartley’s four-year-old Kiss Sum ($10) can run well in the Newcastle Stakes. He won the Group 3 Gunsynd at Eagle Farm in June, and he was narrowly beaten in the $500,000 Provincial Midway Championships Final at Randwick during last year's The Championships.

Pizarro ($5) from the O’Shea stable is a promising four-year-old with 54kg on his back and has only been unplaced once in 11 starts.

Newcastle Jockey Club received a positive response the inaugural Bella Group Services Paul Perry 2yo Handicap (1300m).

James Cummings has accepted with four youngsters including last start Metropolitan winners Tom Kitten ($3.90) and TAB favourite Inhibitions ($3.50).

John O’Shea has promising filly Madam Roselyn ($6.50) in the race and Michael Freedman’s Wymark ($4.60) should run well.

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