Felines flies to win the Concorde Stakes
Felines has lived up to her part of the bargain with a Group Three win and now all her trainer has to do is persuade her owner to keep her racing.
Gerry Harvey has her earmarked for the broodmare barn but Kris Lees hopes her Concorde Stakes win on Saturday will help sway him otherwise.
A short-course specialist, Felines has won seven races over 1000m, four at Randwick including the Concorde.
“There’s not enough of these races for her,” Lees said.
“I just hope Gerry doesn’t send her to stud because she’s still got some good racing left.
“The key to getting her to win this race was the 1000 metres at Randwick.”
Felines ($8.50) raced up on the pace set by Brisbane visitor Hidden Pearl ($3.60).
She got to the lead a little sooner than Jason Collett had planned but fought back when challenged by Federal ($8) to keep him at bay by 1-1/2 lengths.
“I could hear something was coming,” Collett said.
“I didn’t quite know who it was, but she gave a really good kick.
“I half thought I’d got there a bit soon but to her credit her kick was strong and it was enough in the end.”
Hidden Pearl weakened to fifth, while favourite Japonisme ($2.45) finished sixth after never looking a winning hope.
If he can convince Harvey to forestall motherhood, Lees will try to find a suitable sprint in Melbourne during the spring.