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By Ray Hickson

“It’s worked. It really has.”

Kris Lees with The Big Dance trophy (Pic: Steve Hart)

You could call trainer Kris Lees a little biased having just trained Rustic Steel to win the inaugural $2m Big Dance (1600m) but he declared the race day a success.

With David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’ blaring in the background, Lees said it was great to see so many people at Royal Randwick and more importantly that they had races to care about and not just a sideshow to racing elsewhere in the country.

“A great crowd, not only that they made all the races nearly Saturday prizemoney so we didn’t have the mass scratchings we had last year,’’ Lees said.

“There was a lot of scratchings last year because we were racing for a lot less, we had pretty much a true rail whereas last year was 10m and it was an opportunity to scratch.”

Rustic Steel overcame an interrupted preparation into the Big Dance, a setback prior to his planned second-up run meant Lees had to reset.

He got back on track with an improved performance in the Five Diamonds Prelude a couple of weeks ago and with a gem of a Nash Rawiller ride was able to hold off the challenge of Cisco Bay to score his biggest win, with Sibaaq in third.

Lees admitted to a case of the early crow when the gelding burst to the front and was relieved when he held on.

“He got a lovely ride from Nash, he had plenty of horse underneath and got him out in clear air when they straightened up,’’ he said.

“I knew he would be strong, I was a little concerned the last 100m but he had enough in the tank.

“I went off a touch early and I started to pull back a bit that last 50m.”

The Big Dance was made up of Country Cup winners from around NSW over the past 12 months and Rustic Steel has had his ticket since May.

Lees said that was a bonus as he was able to target the race knowing he’s assured a start.

“He qualified through the Scone Cup and that was on a six day turnaround on the back of winning the Coast,’’ he said.

“So we put him away with this race in mind.

“We’ve got a base either end of the state and we try to target the right races. It’s a thrill to have four runners in it but it’s a bigger thrill to win it.”

While there was jubilation with Rustic Steel’s win, Lees’s more favoured runner Hosier finished last after a slow start and a torrid run.

He said it was a case of the horse having to work too hard from the wide gate and it was clear he was a spent force early in the straight.

Meanwhile, Rawiller shared Lees’s concern that he’d hit the front too soon.

“I was really happy where we were, he let go with a great turn of foot just after we straightened,’’ he said.

“To be fair I thought he’d be vulnerable late, that last 100m felt like 400m. This has been a race Kris has targeted a long way out and that was the difference.

Rustic Steel wins the Big Dance

“It wasn’t an afterthought, this was the race he wanted to win and the horse was able to produce on the day.”

The jockey said it was a big thrill to win the inaugural Big Dance especially after a couple of disappointments in other spring majors.

He thought he had a huge change in the TAB Everest with Eduardo while the outside barrier put paid to Vilana’s chances in the Golden Eagle last weekend.

“We couldn’t win an Everest and we couldn’t win a Golden Eagle but pretty happy with the Big Dance,’’ he said.

All the results and replays from Big Dance Day at Royal Randwick