The rampaging Team Lee will be in full flight across two feature meetings on Saturday night.
Despite stable star Keayang Zahara heading to the spelling paddock, the Terang-based clan will have runners in the three Group 1 races at Menangle along with four key runners at Melton.
Their best hope will be star trotting mare Jilliby Ballerini, who will be joined by emerging stablemate Jilliby Dreamlover, in the $100,000 Group 1 Macarthur Mile at Menangle.
“We’ll also have Keayang Passion in the NSW Oaks and Isthisjustfantasy in the Queen Elizabeth Mile,” co-trainer Paddy Lee said.
Glen Craven, regular driver of Jilliby Ballerini, will do the bulk of the stable driving at Menangle and Jason Lee will stay at Melton.
Lee’s Melton headline act is the unbeaten Keayang Renegade in race four.
“He’s only had five starts and is untapped, but the ease he does things and his sheer speed is hugely exciting,” Paddy Lee said.
“We’ll know a lot more about him in the next couple of months when he steps up to open class, but there’s a lot to like about him.”
So much to0 like, the clan will bid for a slot of their own in the world’s richest pacing race, the $1.5 million TAB Eureka at Menangle in November.
“We’ve been lucky to have some really nice pacers along the way and he’s showing the potential to say he could be our next,” Lee said.
Keayang Wasabi (race one), Keayang Stuka (five) and Keayang Payton (eight) also step-out aty Melton.
Keayang Stuka, who ran third in the 2024 Sydney Inter Dominion final, has been sparingly raced since and returned with a good Bendigo win on April 18.
He faces a much bigger test from gate six against the likes of Gotfeelingsyouknow (gate one), I Am Wilma (two), Lovemeto (seven) and Ollivici (nine) in Saturday night’s Scotch Notch Memorial (1720m).
At Menangle, Jilliby Ballerini will be favourite to win her second Group 1 race in a week after romping home in last Saturday’s Sumthingaboutmaori Trot at Melton.
It was her first Group 1 win after a string of second placings behind champion stablemate Keayang Zahara.
“Zahara got a bit of a cold after coming home from NZ a couple of weeks ago and we just decided to give her a spell because we had Ballerini and Dreamlover going to this Menangle race,” Paddy Lee said.
“It was great for Ballerini to get a Group 1 of her own and hopefully she can do it again this week.
“Her resilience and ability to race for so long at the top level is amazing. It seems chasing Keayang Zaharta has really conditioned her.”
Lee admits the task will be much harder for Keayang Passion and Isthisjustfantasy in their Menangle features.
“They’re both facing very strong fields,” he said. “Isthisjustfantasy would’ve gone close to winning last week, but we’re all up against it with Captains Mistress in the race this time.
“And Keayang Passion is a lovely filly in an Oaks with a lot of depth. She might be a place hope.”
