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By Greg Prichard

Comments from the trainer of every runner in the $500,000 Polytrack Provincial-Midway Championships Final (1400m) at Royal Randwick.

1. Rustic Steel (Kris Lees, Newcastle): “Super consistent, five wins and three placings from 10 starts. We 'ummed and ahhed' about giving him another run after the qualifier, but it was going to be a fair gap heading into the final so a tick-over run in which he was quite competitive has set him up well. He gets to the final in good order, he’ll run a strong 1400 and can handle all ground. Hugh Bowman has ridden him in his last two and has a good understanding of the horse.”

2. Never Talk (Kris Lees, Newcastle): “She’s a real wet tracker. She raced in strong company during her three-year-old season and has been placed twice at Group level, so she’s probably not in that bad at the weights. Her history is a good form reference for a race like this and she’s got a good chance. Not sure where she’ll end up in the run from barrier two, I’ll leave that to Damien (Oliver), but she can certainly get through the ground so she’ll be fine.”

Trainer Kris Lees (pic: Steve Hart).

3. Kinloch (Kris Lees, Newcastle): “First-up in the qualifier that he won and now four weeks into the final. There weren’t a lot of options for him in-between that, so he had an exhibition gallop and did a fair bit of work and he’ll get there in good order. I don’t think he wants a real bog track, I’ve got to say, but he’ll be hitting the line strong. He’s got a pretty good turn of foot. He wanted every bit of the 1200 metres first-up, so he’s going to be looking for the 1400m here.”

4. Kiss Sum (Tracey Bartley, Wyong): “Everything’s good, 100 per cent ready to go. Had a barrier trial on a very heavy track two weeks ago, just to tick him over. He needed to do some work in the trial and I got Kerrin (McEvoy) to make sure he did, because he’d done nothing since he qualified and had just been kicking around at home. It’s a tough race, but it would be a feather in our cap if we could get the double after winning the Four Pillars with him in the spring. Got the right horse, I reckon, just need a bit of luck.”

5. Travest (Greg Hickman, Warwick Farm): “My horse is wonderful. I’m very happy with him going into the race. We freshened him up for the qualifier because he was coming back from 2000 metres and his run was good, so we gave him a trial after that to keep him on his toes and he’s ready to go. He’s got good heavy track form. I don’t know if any of them will have run on a track as heavy as Randwick is likely to be, but it’s better to have some sort of heavy form than not. He’s a good each-way bet. How many of the other horses in the race have won four in town like he has?”

6. Astero (Matthew Smith, Warwick Farm): “He’s good, real good. Ready to go. I’m not that confident about the heavy track, but we’ll see. He’s going into the race fit and well and had a barrier trial on Monday just to tick him over. He’s won on a heavy track, but there’s a big difference between a Heavy 8 and a 10. But the horse is well then all you can do is get them to the races and hope they get the right run and handle the track. He can race anywhere in the run, so Tom Sherry will look to put him where he’s most comfortable.”

7. Poseidon Ruler (John Bannister, Newcastle): “He’s never put in a bad run since we’ve had him. Three weeks ago he was a Class 1 country horse and now he has to step up. He’s probably six or eight months away from being a proper horse, he’s still learning, but he ran third in the qualifier and that was pretty good. He’ll run well, I just don’t know if he has the class of Never Talk and Rustic Steel.”

Trainer Kim Waugh (Pic: Bradley Photos).

8. French Marine (Kris Lees, Newcastle): “He’s a roughie, but he’ll get through the ground so that’s a good start. He’s had four starts this time in, so he’s fit and well and he’s a tough horse and he’s been consistent. We had to be nominated for a qualifier, but we decided not to run at Wyong and it worked out all right for him when he went to the wild card. Tim Clark will have him up on the speed from barrier 10.”

9. Great News (Kim Waugh, Wyong): “She’s really good, I couldn’t be happier with her. Because all of our tracks were cancelling trials she missed out on a (scheduled) trial, but Wyong was good enough to let me trial her the other day on the course proper with a few other horses of mine and she had a really solid trial and pulled up fantastic. She’s had another gallop on the course proper since and wouldn’t blow a candle out. Just really, really happy with her. She’s a real clean-winded mare and light-framed as well, a very athletic type.”

10. Barossa Rosa (Tracey Bartley, Wyong): “She loves the wet, her form in the wet is well exposed. She’ll be up near the lead, first half-a-dozen I’d say. No need for her to trial because she won only qualified two weeks out from the final. She won the qualifier off the back of two trials. She’s right to go. Kiss Sum is my higher profile horse, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if she came along and knocked them all out. Mares are hard to beat when they get that bit of form going.”

11. Mayrose (John Sargent, Randwick): “Willie Pike is on-board and I’ll pretty much leave it up to him. I’ll just say to him that she’s not an on-speed horse, she’ll get back. He’s a great judge of speed. It’ll be all systems go. Three weeks between races, just how I wanted it. She’s a big lean filly and she’ll peak for the final. Hopefully the speed’s on and she’ll hit the line well. She won a Midway in torrential rain and on a heavy track two starts ago, so she can handle it.”

12. Grande Rumore (Kris Lees, Newcastle): “First-up in the qualifier and second-up in the final and she’ll react well to staying a bit on the fresh side. She can get through the ground, she’ll be fine with that. She’ll run well. Brenton Avdulla from six, all options available from there. Third in the Provincial Series final in December when she probably didn’t run the mile out, so much better suited at 1400. This series is a lot stronger, but it’s a decent recommendation at least.”

Trainer Jason Coyle (Pic: Bradley Photos)

13. Pippali (Jason Coyle, Warwick Farm): “She came through her win in the wild card at Newcastle really well. A heavy track at Newcastle is going to be totally different to what Randwick is currently at, but the horse itself is in terrific order and it’s nice to at least have some wet track form there as a guide. We tried to ride her a little bit closer last preparation and she tended to lack that really explosive finish that she’s shown twice now from back in the field this prep. We’ll be back somewhere with a few behind us and if she can get through the ground she should race well.”

14. Confessed (Kris Lees, Newcastle): “She’s probably the one that had a rough hope if it wasn’t such a heavy track. I think the heavy track could be against her at this level. Been up for a while, but she likes racing and is coping well. She drew wide in a qualifier, so we decided to wait for the wild card and she did well enough there. Tommy Berry from four will give her a nice run.”

15. Sally Pops (Robert Quinn, Warwick Farm): “She’s fantastic. She’s bursting to have a run. She had a hit-out in a barrier trial on the Polytrack surface here last week and Ellen (Hennessy) sat on-board and the horse wanted to work. Ellen eased her down coming home. It was all about blowing away the cobwebs and she did her final piece of work on the grass on Tuesday and is ready to race. We’re really excited. She’s a really active horse that thrives on racing.”

16. Tawfiq Lass (Kris Lees, Newcastle): “She’s got a knockout chance at the big odds for the connections, because she’ll relish the heavy ground. Another consistent one for us, been up for a while but coping well. Andrew Gibbons knows the horse, he’s ridden her at her last two starts. The conditions are going to suit, so she deserves a crack at this race.”

All the fields, form and replays for Day 2 of The Star Championships at Randwick