Jockey bid for Red Cardinal

NEW South Wales trainer Kris Lees is on the hunt for the best jockey available to ride Red Cardinal in Wednesday’s Geelong Cup after losing Hugh Bowman to suspension.

Lees had booked the champion hoop to ride his eightyear-old stayer in the $400,000 Group 3 over 2400m, but Bowman won’t ride until Friday after copping a three-day ban for careless riding at Randwick on Saturday.

The Newcastle-based trainer sent Red Cardinal down to Caulfield last night and will accept a run in the Geelong Cup when acceptances close at 9am this morning.

A decision on a jockey will be made by this afternoon.

“Hugh just got suspended, so we will just sit and wait for the moment and see who the best available is,” Lees said.

Lees said he could not be happier with the veteran stayer, running a nice race first-up in the Group 3 Newcastle Cup (2300m) in September.

That form was franked on Saturday when that race’s winner, Hush Writer, won again in the St Leger at Randwick.

Red Cardinal joined the Lees camp from Darren Weir at the start of the calendar year.

“He has raced pretty consistently,” Lees said.

“We have found that he likes his runs a bit spaced, so he hasn’t run since the Newcastle Cup. He ran really well there and the form has stacked up pretty well out of that race.”

Red Cardinal is rated a $10 chance for this year’s Geelong Cup, with Prince of Arran ($3.50) a clear favourite in the TAB’s all-in market.

True Self ($5) and Steel Prince ($6) are next in the line of betting.

Red Cardinal still holds a nomination for the Melbourne Cup, a race he last contested in 2018, but finds himself well down in the order of entry at 61st for this year’s edition.

Lees said the Geelong Cup was always on the radar in an attempt to get the horse qualified for the race, but admitted connections still faced an uphill battle to make the field.

“He is not qualified for the Melbourne Cup as we speak due to the time frame, (not) running a place in a 2400m race over the last 12 months or so,” Lees said.

“We need to run him in a Group race and the Saturday race in Sydney doesn’t have Group status, so we thought this (the Geelong Cup) was the better option.

“He’s a long way down (for the Melbourne Cup), but at this time of year there is attrition and things.

“But it (the Geelong Cup) is a good option without everything else as well. It’s good prizemoney, it’s a good race.”

Lees said the galloper would return to Melbourne to run during the Flemington carnival regardless of his Melbourne Cup fate.

“The Queen Elizabeth on the last day (of the carnival) will probably be an ideal option for him,” he said.