Kris Lees has continued his outstanding record in the Provincial-Midway Championships Final, winning the $1 million feature for the sixth time and producing the quinella to boot.
The result was the same trifecta as 12 months ago in a different order, last year’s runner-up Lord Of Biscay ($3.50 fav) exploding to the front once clear to defeat stablemate Imposant ($21) by three lengths, with defending titleholder Matcha Latte ($4) third.
Lees has now won half of the 12 renewals of the Provincial-Midway Championships Final (1400m), which was first held in 2015 under a slightly different format, but the typically humble Novocastrian said it was a team effort.
“We’re the biggest stable in the provincials, we’re entitled to have a good representation, but full credit to all the staff at home to get these horses presented on the day and they raced really well,” Lees said.
“He got a perfect run in transit. I was very confident in the run with him. He was getting all the favours he needed, and he reacted well.”
The only person attached to the Lees stable who may not have been all smiles was his wife, Kristy, a shareholder in the runner-up.
“My wife owns that one. Anyway, she ran well in the race last year, and she has run well again today, so good result,” he said of Imposant.
A European import, Lord Of Biscay took time to acclimatise to Australian conditions but has found his groove over the past 12 months.
He is likely to press on to the Tamworth Cup (1400m) on April 24 as Lees bids to qualify him for the Big Dance (1600m) at Randwick on Melbourne Cup day, a race he finished seventh in last year.
Winning jockey James Mcdonald’s praised Lees’ skills as a trainer, saying he got Lord Of Biscay to his grand final in top shape.
“Kris is a champion. He’s such a good trainer. He knows how to ‘prep’ these horses up,” McDonald said.
“He told me a couple of weeks ago, ‘you want to be riding this horse’. He’s in career-best form, and he felt enormous today.”
Lees’ other wins in the feature came with Spangler (2023), Kinloch (2022), Cristal Breeze (2021), Serene Miss (2018) and Danish Twist in 2016.