Canberra-based horseman Steven Lee has the biggest team he has trained in the 40 years that he has held a licence and is reaping the rewards with 13 winners to his name this season.
Lee has more than 30 horses in his care and is ably assisted by his grandsons Jimmy Locke and George Lee, who are also his regular drivers.
The family does plenty of travelling from their Canberra base, primarily racing at tracks in the south-west and Riverina areas of the state in a bid to seek out suitable races for their team.
But tonight, Lee is heading to Menangle with his perennial square trotter Jungle Eyes (race eight) and inform country class mare Marianna Bromac (race four), both of whom will be driven by Jimmy Locke.
A consistent performer at metropolitan level, Jungle Eyes will go into tonight’s 2300 metre trot, looking to add to his sound record of 14 wins from 62 career starts.
Marianna Bromac will be chasing a third win from her past five starts when she contests the final of the Club Menangle Waratah Series which is restricted to pacers trained in the regional areas.
Locke believes that both their runners could not be any better order and with their fair share of luck can both finish in the money.
“Jungle Eyes has come back from a short let up in great condition,” he said.
“It was unfortunate that he had to do a little too much work at his last Menangle run but he has drawn well in gate two tonight so I am confident that he will be thereabouts.”
“Marianna Bromac is absolutely flying at the moment, her run to finish second at Leeton was great, and she was strong in scoring at a Tuesday Menangle meeting three starts ago.
“She is a mare that prefers to settle back and run home in her races so her ordinary gate ten draw is not so bad.
“I will drive her for luck and just hope that the speed goes on early to enable her to steam home late.”
It is a day and night of wall-to-wall harness racing in New South Wales headed up by the metropolitan meeting at Menangle and quality racing at the state-of-the-art venues of Bathurst and Wagga.
