Luncies set to give Lees another winter feature in Caloundra Cup

By Glenn Davis

Trainer Kris Lees is hopeful Luncies can cap off another successful Queensland Racing Carnival in the Listed Caloundra Cup at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.

Lees has claimed three trophies this winter with Amokura in the Group 1 Queensland Oaks while Kalapour took out the Group 3 Chairman’s Handicap at Eagle Farm.

Luncies gave the Newcastle trainer a third feature win in last week’s Group 3 Tattersall’s Cup at Eagle Farm.

The Caloundra Cup was always on Luncies’ winter agenda and Lees has cleared the imported stayer to back-up seven days after winning the Tattersall’s Cup.

“The Caloundra Cup looks another nice race for him,” Lees said.

“He was well placed when he won the Tattersall’s Cup last week but I’m not sure how he’ll handle the quick back-up.

“He’s tried it before when he ran third in the Chairman’s Handicap last year then backed up in the Sydney Cup but nothing went right for him that day.”

Luncies was brought to Australia after starting his career in the United Kingdom.

After acclimatizing, Luncies showed his staying worth finishing second in the St Leger at Randwick in October, 2021.

He was then spelled and returned for the Sydney autumn in 2022 where he was placed four times in Stakes races before campaigning in Melbourne last spring.

After finishing second in the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth at Flemington behind fellow import Soulcombe, Luncies was again a courageous second behind Vow And Declare in the Group 2 Sandown Classic last spring.

Lees took advantage of the small nominations when Luncies won the Tattersall’s Cup.

“It was always our plan to run in the Tatt’s Cup and everything was set up for him when the nominations came up light,” Lees said.

Lees hasn’t ruled out Luncies extending his winter campaign to the Grafton Cup on July 13.

“I want to see how he gets through the Caloundra Cup first before deciding if he goes to Grafton,” Lees said.

“The Caloundra Cup looks a nice option for him and he rarely runs a bad race but he’s up in the weights this time."

Lees rates the Chris Waller-trained Desert Icon as his main threat.

“Desert Icon has been racing well and Gai Waterhouse’s Zoumon has no weight and will take catching,” he said.