Newcastle to host Midway-Provincial Championship Qualifier

On Thursday, the feature meeting at Newcastle will host the Midway-Provincial Championship Qualifier over 1400m.

Kalapour, a lightly raced six-year-old from Ireland by US sire War Command, will be resuming for the leading home track stable of Kris Lees.

Kalapour hit the ground running 11 months ago when he powered home from the back to win a BM 78 at Hawkesbury over 1500m.

After failing to finish off in heavy going next start, he was given a break, then returned in late August for a BM 78 at Rosehill that was the worst run of his career.

Sent to the paddock, Kalapour has been given plenty of time to acclimatise to the fluctuating weather fortunes Down Under, and he looked every bit a high-quality galloper winning both recent trials up to 1200m.

The Lees yard, targeting a fourth success in the Championship after Kinloch nailed a third win last year, may unleash four runners in the Qualifier.

Fellow six-year-old stablemates Acquitted and Geo are both on track to resume behind two trials, while lightly raced four-year-old Cloudland is also geared to return for only his second prep, also off two trials.

Thursday’s race is the third in a series of provincial stepping stones into the Randwick final on April 8, with the first two over the line booking their spots.

Confusingly, of the seven qualifying races, three are strictly for provincial-based horses, while three others are also open to Midway-eligible runners, including this one at Newcastle.

Finally, a Wild Card – open to horses that had competed in any of the earlier qualifiers – is back at Newcastle on March 30 to decide the final 3 spots.

Despite the Midway entry inclusion, only one metropolitan stable accepted, with Jason Coyle preparing a two-prong assault with five-year-old mares Air Of Alsace and Hasty Duchess.