Emerging star Keayang Tokyo gets the chance to book his own ticket to Group 1 racing in Sydney when he steps out in hot company at Melton on Saturday night.
Driver Jason Lee said “a win or really big run in such a strong race” would twist connection’s arm on a Menangle raid for the $150,000 Group 1 Len Smith Mile at the huge TAB Eureka meeting on September 6.
“We’ve got a good opinion of him, but we’re still working on getting the best out of him,” he said. “He’s got the ability for a race like that, but it’s a long way to go, especially if we just took the one horse, and he’d need to really stand-up this week.”
Keayang Tokyo boasts an impressive record of 10 wins and seven placings from just 19 starts and returned to winning form in a 2240m Melton free-for-all on August 9. His two previous runs were excellent seconds.
The depth of talent in Saturday night’s race, headed by key TAB Eureka players Bay Of Biscay and Fighter Command and open-class stars Catch A Wave and Better Eclipse, makes this the strongest race Keayang Tokyo has contested.
But the sparingly raced gelding has good early speed and a draw to use it from gate four.
“It’s the sort of race that’ll certainly show us where he’s at,” Lee said.
While Bay Of Biscay and Fighter Command are locked in for the TAB Eureka, Catch A Wave and Better Eclipse are logical contenders for the Len Smith Mile.
Lee and his clan will also be key players in Saturday night’s 1720m trotting free-for-all at Melton with three of the seven runners: Aldebaran Vera (gate two), Jilliby Ballerini (three) and Keayang Stuka (six).
But they will have their work cut out against Australia’s most improved trotter, Im Bobby, who is going for his sixth win on end from gate five.
“Gee he’s in the zone,” Lee said of Im Bobby. “The hope is Aldebaran Vera might be able to hold him at the start from her draw, she had enough speed to last time.”
Lee will drive Jilliby Ballerini, who boasts six wins and a third from just seven starts this season. Glen Craven is aboard Aldebaran Vera and Lochie Cook will partner Keayang Stuka.
In other exciting stable news, superstar trotting mare Keayang Zahara is only “a couple of weeks away” from a trial.
And another of the Lee and Craven clan trotting stars, last year’s Inter Dominion runner-up Keayang Chucky, isn’t far behind.
“The mare is a bit more forward, so ‘Chucky’ might be a month or so off a trial,” Jason Lee said.
“We’re really happy with them both. They’ve thrived during the time out.”
Despite Jilliby Ballerini’s stunning first half of the year, Lee said Keayang Zahara was still the clear stable top seed.
“Ballerini has closed the gap, but if you’re asking who I’d drive now, it’s definitely still Zahara,” he said.
Keayang Zahara won her first 15 starts, including seven at Group 1 level, before tasting defeat for the first time at her latest run when second in the Group 1 Macarthur Mile at Menangle on May 10.
“She looks a completely different mare than she did after that run. It’ll be great to have her back at the races soon,” Lee said.
Keayang Chucky is a big chance to head to NZ, where fellow Victorian star Arcee Phoenix is going, for two Group 1 races at Addington in Christchurch in November.
