Lees works mare out
As Lucia Valentina grows older her trainer Kris Lees believes he has found a new winning formula.
It won the mare a Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick in the autumn and it could give her a Cox Plate this spring.
An important stepping stone for Lucia Valentina’s Cox Plate bid takes place at Caulfield today, when she contests the Underwood Stakes.
Lucia Valentina won the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at her second run from a break after a trip to Hong Kong, with four weeks between runs.
The Cox Plate i s to be Lucia Valentina’s third start this campaign and again with a minimum of four weeks between runs.
Mal Ollerton, the travelling foreman for the Newcastle- based Lees, said the change had helped the mare.
“She’ll race here on Saturday and then it will be a month into the Cox Plate,” Ollerton said on Thursday.
“It’s a similar sort of thing they did into the Queen Elizabeth and that seemed to work out well for us.
“She’s going as well as she’s ever gone.”
Lucia Valentina arrived at Caulfield on Sunday and had a track gallop on Tuesday which Ollerton described as solid work.
He said today’s run would top her off for her main assignment, the Cox Plate, in which she will be pitted against champion mare Winx.
“She’s a lot bigger than she has been in previous years. She’s filled out now,” Ollerton said.
He said she had settled in nicely and importantly was showing the same traits she showed at home.
“She get’s a bit sour and cranky, so nothing’s changed there.”
Former Cambridge galloper Tavago will be ridden conservatively in the race, according to co- trainer Trent Busuttin.
“The Cleaner will put the speed on and we know it’s going to be a truly run race,” he said.
“The draw [ eight] makes it awkward and we don’t want him out of his comfort zone. We’re probably going to have to sit back and have him hitting the line.”
The New Zealand- bred Caulfield Cup hope will be ridden by Nick Hall, who replaces the suspended Ben Melham. “Nick’s a great replacement who rides Caulfield and staying races very well,” Busuttin said.