Are we seeing a changing of the guard?
For more than a decade, it has been the powerhouse Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin and then daylight in Victoria’s training ranks.
But now Team Lee is really emerging.
It is still very early in the season, but Marg and Paddy Lee are runaway leaders in both the statewide and Melton premierships.
That said, Stewart and Tonkin have been remarkably quiet, largely by design as they target the back half of the year with their business model.
Going into last weekend, they had had just 51 starters (for 16 wins) in Victoria after more than a quarter of the season.
But the blossoming strength of numbers and quality from Team Lee is undeniable. They’d had 123 starters for 37 wins before the weekend.
Then they added the Keayang Zahara/Jilliby Ballerini TAB Trot quinella in Cambridge and the Mildura Cup with remarkable veteran Jilliby Nitro.
Outwardly, it’s been a rise built on trotters, but speak to any of the Lee/Craven clan and they’ll tell you pacers are just as important to them.
It’s just when you train Keayang Zahara and Jilliby Ballerini, they are sure to hog the headlines, as they did at Cambridge.
That’s not to say the clan didn’t have a concerted focus on trotters, starting a few years back.
Depending on who you speak to, it was deliberate because trying to compete with Stewart and Tonkin in the major pacing two and three-year-old races is nigh on impossible.
Regardless of how much by design it’s been, Team Lee’s trotting success has been phenomenal.
We can’t wait to see more of the untapped Keayang Bazlenka at three this season. The Victoria Trotters’ Derby is just around the corner.
But Jason Lee, who does much of the stable driving, has openly spoken about the need to unearth more serious pacing stars.
It’s how the clan first made a splash with the likes of Jilliby Kung Fu and Jilliby Nitro as youngsters.
“Personally, I want to be in the big pacing races too, not just the trotting ones,” he said.
Watching a nondescript Bendigo meeting last Wednesday night suggested they have found at least a couple of serious pacing prospects.
The wins of Keayang Renegade and Keayang Sweetheart turned plenty of heads.
They are both regally bred, like many of the clan’s stock, and Keayang Renegade in particular oozed excitement.
Both are four, have been very lightly raced and given plenty of time.
Keayang Renegade’s win, his fourth from as many starts, was breathtaking.
Big, raw and almost clunky at times, he looked like a “mini” Ride High.
Despite being wide early then sitting outside main danger Royal Appointment and crushing him, the four-year-old son of American Ideal dashed away, seemingly under his own steam, to win by 9.5m in a 1min52.9sec mile rate for 1650m and splits of 54.3 and 26.5.
Only very good horses can do that.
He won his first start at Terang in March, last year, had a year off and has put together three scorching wins this campaign.
Put a ring around him for the TAB Eureka later this year and maybe a race like the Rising Sun at Albion Park in July, if it’s not too soon.
He still looks raw, but insanely exciting.
“We think he could be our next really good pacer,” co-trainer Paddy Lee said. “He didn’t have anything major, just a bit of soreness when we gave him that time out.
“He’s got push button speed. The family is keen to head towards the Eureka with him.”
Keayang Sweetheart went even faster with her effortless win over recent Running of the Bulls heroine Wicked Confession.
But, in contrast to “Renegade” sitting parked, Keayang Sweetheart was able to lead and just kept running with splits of 28, 28.5, 26.9 and 28.5sec for her 1min51.9sec mile rate..
The daughter of Always B Miki, who like Keayang Renegade was bred by Bruce Edward, has won three of her four starts.
“She’ll make a nice city class mare, but as good as she was the other night, she doesn’t have the X-factor of ‘Renegade’,” Jason Lee said.
Beyond this pair, whenever you look at the trial results, there seems to be more and more well-bred Keayang’s and Jilliby’s winning.
Numbers-wise, maybe there isn’t much between the size of the stables now, either.
It’s great for the game.
The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.
