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Tavi Time - the $3.50 TAB favourite for the Polytrack Provincial-Midway Championships - will have an exhibition gallop at Newcastle on Saturday.
The talented four-year-old will work with a stablemate between the third and fourth races as he prepares to launch his bid to qualify for the $1 million Final (1400m) at Royal Randwick on April 13 on Day 2 of The Championships.
Leading Newcastle trainer Kris Lees has earmarked Newcastle's 1400m Qualifier on March 2 as Tavi Time's first-up assignment.
The $150,000 race will be the second in the 2024 series (Kembla Grange will host the opening heat two days earlier), and is restricted to eligible provincial-trained horses, with the first two placegetters automatically securing places in the 15-horse Final.
"Tavi Time trialled at Wyong on January 31, and won't trial again before the Newcastle Qualifier," Lees said.
Successful at five of his only eight starts, Tavi Time hasn't raced since blitzing his rivals (runner-up Belleistic Kids won at Randwick at his next start) in the Mudgee Cup (1600m) on December 1.
The Tavistock gelding had also easily won a Benchmark 78 Handicap (1600m) at The Hunter metropolitan meeting at home on November 18 at his previous start.
Tavi Time is a pronounced $3.50 favorite with TAB.com.au for the Provincial-Midway Final, with Lees seeking to win the feature for the sixth time at its 10th running.
Lees trialled several of his other Championships contenders at Gosford yesterday, with both Cloudland (not listed) and Dream Hour ($15) winning trials and Willinga Freefall ($26) finishing fourth.
Cloudland (Dylan Gibbons) won a 1000m Open trial in 61.46 seconds on a Soft 7 surface, and the track was downgraded to a Heavy 9 later in the morning when Dream Hour (Amelia Bullock) won his 800m heat in 50.18secs.
Willinga Freefall (Sam Clipperton) finished fourth in a 1000m heat immediately after Cloudland had trialled, also on a Soft 7.
"Cloudland will go to the opening Kembla Grange Qualifier (for both provincial and Midway horses) on February 29, and I will probably have another runner as well," Lees said.
"Both Dream Hour and Willinga Freefall (winners of respective races at Eagle Farm on December 9) will trial again and run in later Provincial-Midway Qualifiers."
Lees also trialled his Melbourne Cup runner Kalapour (Andrew Gibbons) at Gosford yesterday in a 1000m heat, and he is now ready to begin another campaign.
Kalapour won the Group 3 Archer Stakes (2500m) at Flemington on November 4 before finishing down the track in Without A Fight's Cup (3200m) there three days later.
"He has now had two trials (the first was at Wyong on January 31), and will resume in the Listed-Parramatta Cup (1900m) at Rosehill Gardens next Saturday," Lees said.
"At this stage I'm not sure I want to try him again at 3200m in the Sydney Cup at Randwick (run on the same day as the Provincial-Midway Final)."
