Sound decision in switch of galloper
SOUND Proposition will race in Sydney rather than Brisbane as trainer Kris Lees steps him up to 1800 metres for his second start for the stable.
A Group One winner in New Zealand for trainers Lance O’sullivan and Andrew Scott, Sound Proposition has been relocated after a failed attempt in the Doomben 10,000 in May.
Lees entered him for the Listed Tattersall’s Mile at Doomben on Saturday but said he would race over 1800 metres at Randwick instead.
Sound Proposition, whose five wins including the 2016 Easter Stakes at Ellerslie are all over 1600m, is the toprated horse in the open handicap and will have the benefit of in-form apprentice Rachel King’s 1.5kg claim to reduce his weight to 60kg.
“I think he will be fine over 1800 metres,” Lees said.
“He will have a freshen-up after Saturday and we will look at some races for him in the spring from 1600 to 2000 metres.”
Sound Proposition made an immediate impact at his first start for Lees, winning a 1600m-handicap at Randwick on June 24 by 2-1/4 lengths on a heavy track.
Although his record over 1600m is exceptional, Sound Proposition also has a Group One third on his record in the New Zealand Stakes in March.
The gelding was stripped of another Group One placing behind Mongolian Khan and Volkstok’n’barrell in the 2015 New Zealand Derby (2400m) when he returned an elevated level of cobalt.
O’Sullivan and Scott were fined with authorities conceding the high readings in three of their horses could have come from water troughs dosed with cobalt they shared with cattle. Lees will also run Felines at Randwick in the July Sprint (1100m) with the mare pleasing him with her midfield finish in yesterday’s 800m-barrier trial at Newcastle.
“She will definitely run with Hugh Bowman to ride,” he said.
The winner of nine of her 30 starts including the Group Three Concorde Stakes in the spring, Felines hasn’t raced since finishing fifth in the June Stakes won emphatically by The Monstar.
Stablemates Upscale and Time Out Of Mind will head to Doomben for sprint races on Saturday’s program.
HE WILL HAVE A FRESHEN-UP AFTER SATURDAY AND WE WILL LOOK AT SOME RACES FOR HIM IN THE SPRING FROM 1600 TO 2000 METRES KRIS LEES ON SOUND PROPOSITION