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Trainer Kris Lees would like to see a positive start to Group 1 winner Amokura’s likely short autumn/winter campaign at Rosehill on Saturday.
Last year's Queensland Oaks winner is resuming at a trip Kris Lees concedes is below what she prefers in the Vale Lonhro Handicap (1500m) but he couldn't be happier with how she's been prepared for her first run since November.
"She's had a long slow build up for the preparation and seems to be coming up well,'' Lees said.
"She hasn't always had the best feet but we were always going to give her a light spring then decide where we went so we just gave her a bit longer.
"She's trialled nicely but probably finds it a bit sharp at 1500m. It'll be a good foundation for the preparation, not that she will be having a long one.
"She'll probably have a couple of runs in Brisbane then back off for the spring."
Amokura, $10 with TAB on Friday, only had two starts last spring culminating in a Group 2 placing at Flemington but showed she's ready for a return by running down Much Much Better to win a 1000m trial at Newcastle two weeks ago.
Lees said the make up of the race could suit the four-year-old who he says should come into her own in the second half of 2024.
"A fast run race would suit her, 1500m at Rosehill is still well short of what she'd prefer but I expect she will show something late,'' he said.
"I always thought her best time would be that four and five-year-old period so we're giving her that chance now."
A drop in class could be in Razeta's favour in the Dennis Jamieson Handicap (1300m) as she searches for her first win since last year's South Pacific Classic.
She's only recorded one minor placing since then, in the Hawkesbury Guineas at her next start, but hit the line to run fifth behind Gringotts at Rosehill a month ago in a sign to Lees that she's racing well.
"It was a good run, she's a dual stakes winner and this is probably the softest grade she's found for a while,'' he said.
"She's weighted accordingly but she's more than capable on her day. She needs a few things to go right.
"She's been out of the winner's stall for a while so we're just trying to place her right."
Ben Osmond takes 3kg off Razeta's back while another apprentice Molly Bourke rides stablemate Powerful Peg who let Lees down with her last start failure at Warwick Farm on April 1.
"She mixes her form a touch this preparation but she's come a fair way in the last 12 months,'' Lees said.
"She's another one that is capable. If she gets the right set up she'll be effective."
The jury's out at this stage on former Kiwi filly Crickets Chirping after an inglorious Australian debut a month ago and Lees is confident she has the talent but might be a work in progress so has his expectations in check for the Hot Rod & Custom Show Handicap (1200m).
"She hung and did a lot wrong so had to go back to the trials,'' he said.
"I probably want to see her under race conditions first but she's a nice filly."
