Dream Set for Tough First-Up Clash

Atherton trainer Michael Lee is expecting boom sprinter Yes Dream to face the ultimate first-up test when he clashes with the brilliant Smart Image at Cluden Park tomorrow.

Lee says Yes Dream, unbeaten in six Cluden starts, is primed for the Hygain Open Hcp but admits it will be tough to end Smart Image’s winning run of five straight.

Both sprinters are being aimed at the north’s major sprint - the Cleveland Bay Hcp in August.

Yes Dream is coming off a four-month break while Smart Image resumed with a classy win in a sizzling 55.4sec over the Cluden 1000m on April 15, lowering the class record of Lee’s gun mare Ruby July.

“He (Yes Dream) is very happy. He’s come back stronger, looks bigger and hopefully, because it is a very strong field, hopefully he can matchup with them first-up,” Lee said.

“He’s been in work for almost three months and is well and truly ready for it but in saying that it’s a very smart field with Smart Image in it.

“Smart Image can run close to the track record so it won’t be easy.

“The Cleveland Bay – that’s the plan, but my main concern is the weights. That’s why it’s important to watch how I place him.

“He’s a very good horse and a real trier. You’ve got to time it right and make sure he’s fit enough to run in it without having to carry a huge weight.”

Lee is hoping Yes Dream, who has already amassed $260,000 in prizemoney, has what it takes to win his first major northern race since the deeds of his outstanding galloper Regal Punch who gave him a dream start to training 20 years ago.

Regal Punch was one of the best stayers to come out of the north for many years.

A $7500 purchase at the Brisbane Bloodstock Sales in 2000, The Forever Regal gelding won 14 races for Lee and his wife Maggie from 1000m to 3200m, earning almost $500,000 in prizemoney.

His impressive career included wins in the Cairns Cup, Townsville and Cairns Amateur Cups, and the Group 3 Queensland Cup, as well as placings in the Group 1 Brisbane Cup, and the Group 2 Prime Minister’s Cup and O’Shea Stakes.

“Regal Punch was the first horse I trained. As a 2yo he won from 1000m and five straight and later won up to 3200m. Not many horses can do that,” Lee said.

“I always had horses in Sydney with Gerald Ryan but never trained a horse until I came up here (Atherton).

“Roy Chillemi got me into it. I had a share in a horse called Kosice with Tom Hedley. The horse wasn’t that good and after I bought Regal Punch as a yearling Roy said take him over and you can learn from him and do it yourself. 

“When I bought Regal Punch at the auction I was terrified, asking myself ‘what am I doing here’.

“He turned out a great investment. He cost $7500 and won almost a half million.”

Lee, the man with the “Midas touch”, has since bred a string of smart sprinters from his grand producing dam Platinum Ruby who he raced with Gerald Ryan.

She has produced the now retired Platinum Tycoon, the smart younger sister Ruby July, and Yes Dream who has won eight of his 12 starts including a 3YO victory in Brisbane.

Premier jockey Lacey Morrison has ridden Yes Dream in all of his northern wins and will again be aboard tomorrow.

Lee said Morrison and Yes Dream had formed a rock solid combination.

“Lacey knows the horse so well. She rides his work and she’s telling me she’s very happy with him,” Lee said.

The Hygain Open is a highlight on an eight-event card which kicks-off at 12.47pm.

Pictured: Yes Dream and Lacey Morrison streaking clear to win the $105,000 3YO Jewel Qualifier at Cluden last year. The star four-year-old will kick-off his winter carnival campaign tomorrow.

See the racing calendar for upcoming race days.