KRIS Lees said he will have at least four runners in the first $1 million The Hunter (1300 metres) on Saturday at Newcastle and believes his fifth hope was "as good as any of them on her day".
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The premier Newcastle trainer has early favourite Graff, which was into $4 with TAB Fixed Odds on Tuesday, Le Romain ($8), Invincible Gem ($11), Tactical Advantage ($26) and Miss Fabulass ($26) among the 26 nominations for the 15-horse quality.
Miss Fabulass, at equal 20th in the order of entry, was the only Lees-trained hope outside the field ahead of the acceptances deadline and barrier draw on Wednesday.
The regally-bred four-year-old, by Frankel out of Lees' former champion Samantha Miss, was also nominated for the benchmark 88 handicap at the meeting. Lees, though, was keen to get all five of his hopes into The Hunter.
"I think there will be at least four," Lees said.
"Miss Fabulass is the one who is probably more doubtful due to where she sits on the order of entry, but she's probably as good as any of them on her day, so if she gets a start she will more than likely run."
While Graff was attracting the most attention from punters, Lees was not writing off the chances of three-time group 1 winner Le Romain, which returned to form with third in the Redzel Stakes (1300m). The seven-year-old had two poor runs, then a freshen-up, before finishing a length behind Pierata in the $1 million race at Rosehill on November 2.
Asked if Graff was his best chance on Saturday, Lees said: "Barrier draws will play their part, especially with a horse like him and Le Romain. But they are probably the two who stand out at the moment."
Of Lees' team, Graff has been on track for the race the longest, after missing out a slot in The Everest.
"He was racing right at the top end against those horses going towards the Everest, and we just decided back off him, give him a trial and keep him a little fresh going into this, where he does react well," Lees said.
Hugh Bowman will replace Newcastle jockey Aaron Bullock on Le Romain, while Brenton Avdulla has the job on Graff. Nash Rawiller will ride Invincible Gem or Tactical Advantage.
Lees was reluctant to pick out a main danger among nominations, but said: "I think it's come up a really strong race right across the board. I think even Jason Deamer's horse [Bon Amis] will run well."
Lees nominated Chianti, Meydan Lass, Redoute's Image and Zeftabrook for the race named in honour of his father, the Max Lees Classic (900m) for two-year-old, but he was unsure on Tuesday how many would run on Saturday.
The meeting will be the second time Newcastle has held a standalone Saturday meeting. The first was in 2000 when Sydney's racing was transferred because of the Olympics.
"It was very well received," Lees said of the day, which featured the Newcastle Cup.
"Hopefully we can get a similar crowd. It was a huge crowd that day and I'm sure it's going to be a great thing for the town."
"I think it will put racing on the map for this weekend especially. It's the right time of year. We've got no football or cricket pretty much on, so the focus will be on the racing and I expect it to be a really good meeting."