Rivellino races away to win on debut at Randwick in January.Credit: Getty Images
“It was always a possibility and that’s just how things have worked out, so I’m just happy to have him on board,” Lees said.
“He rode a group 1 winner for me in 2005 – we won a Queensland Oaks together [with Vitesse Dane] – and he was riding for my father quite a lot as an apprentice before that, so we go back a fair way.”
Two years before that Oaks win, Lees took over his family’s stable after his father, Max, a 20-time group 1-winning trainer, died following a short battle with cancer.
Max had many great wins, including five group 1 Coolmore Classics, but he is forever linked to the Golden Slipper thanks to two-year-old triple crown winner Luskin Star’s seven-length domination in 1977 in race-record time.
The performance of the colossal colt is still ranked by many as the greatest in the race’s history.
“No doubt,” Kris said of Luskin Star’s and his family’s lasting connection to the Slipper. “He was a pretty special horse … I’m just glad we don’t have to take one of him on this year.”
Hugh Bowman and Kris Lees embrace after Mugatoo’s All-Star Mile win in 2021.Credit: Getty Images
Despite his unbeaten status, Rivellino was on the fifth line of betting at $11 with Sportsbet before Tuesday’s barrier draw. Chris Waller’s Wodeton is at the top at $4.50 in a wide open affair.
Lees is thrilled to have a genuine chance with just his second Slipper runner. His other, Elimbari, finished last as a $101 shot in 2010.
“It’s the biggest two-year-old race in the world,” he said. “It’s a stallion-making race; it’s career-changing for horses.
“There certainly hasn’t been a dominant two-year-old this year. Our bloke’s going in, on paper, with the best record with three from three. There’s another one there that’s two from two, but I don’t think outside of that there will be an undefeated horse.
Hugh Bowman hurls his goggles to Kris Lees after Farnan’s win in the Golden Slipper in 2020.Credit: Getty Images
“A few of the others have just taken their turns.
“He’s looked the winner a long way from home in his three wins, I thought anyway, so I think that’s a good sign, despite him not winning by big margins.
“He’s had two really good rides, but he’s had to overcome bad barriers in both of them.
“He’s got a good attitude for a two-year-old, a good constitution and a good turn of foot, so he’s got a few good traits. He’s got a good nature; all the attributes you want in a two-year-old. Just very professional.”
As Slipper contenders have come and gone in recent months, Rivellino has remained on target with 1000m, 1100m then 1200m wins at Randwick, rising in class each time.
Lees has repeated the lead-in from the Skyline Stakes: three weeks between runs and no trials.
Max Lees with Luskin Star after his Golden Slipper win in 1977.Credit: Fairfax
“He had a good hit-out on Friday morning with company on the grass and I couldn’t have been happier with the work,” he said.
“He worked strong and came through it well, so he profiles similar to how he’s gone into his last couple of runs.”
The flawless campaign is a long way, though, from his first trial at Newcastle on December 4 when he finished fourth and showed little when asked for an effort.
“You wonder from there how he could be a chance in a Slipper, but that’s how it is with two-year-olds,” Lees said. “But I knew he was better than that, and he showed it in his next trial.
“His first target was always the Millennium, then after that we reassessed and thought he was a chance to get to a Slipper.
“But with all that, it’s his first preparation so you always have that in the back of your mind. But he’s come through his three runs really well.”
Rivellino has twice come from well back and bad gates to win, but Lees had his fingers crossed for a favourable draw on Tuesday in the 16-horse field.
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“At Randwick, it’s a bit easier to draw wide and overcome it in 1100 and 1200s than it is at Rosehill, so in a perfect world, we’ll draw a nice gate,” he said.
“But I won’t be stressing over it because we can’t do much about it.”
Bahen Bloodstock and Lees, who trained Rivellino’s mother, Intrinsic, paid $180,000 for the Too Darn Hot yearling, which has now won almost $1.5 million.
“He’s cheap today,” Lees quipped. “That was one of the factors [having trained Intrinsic]. And I think he’s a really good stallion, and he was a really good-looking horse.”
