Newcastle Provincial Championship – 18th March 2015

Lees Dreams of more Magic in Provincial Final

Kris Lees has joined Bede Murray with three runners qualified for The Championships Provincial Series Final after Magic Of Dreams won Newcastle’s $100,000 qualifying race on Wednesday, March 18.

Magic Of Dreams held off favourite Oxford Poet and Slots, but they too qualified for the $300,000 final on day two of The Championships on April 11 at Royal Randwick.
"A lot of Newcastle people are in this [Magic Of Dreams] so they deserve their win today,” Lees said.

"This is still her first preparation and she’s been up a long while so she’s coping really well.
"She’ll go to the final now and I think she’ll be competitive.”

Winning jockey Tommy Berry said the Provincial Series already had plenty of hype about it in its first year as part of The Championships.

"It’s like winning a Group race for these people because they’re excited about it. It’s just a great concept and I’m excited about it,” Berry said.

Kim Waugh was relieved to see Oxford Poet qualify after failing at his first attempt in Wyong’s qualifying race on March 5.

"I’ve never been so happy to get beat,” Waugh said.

Grant Marshall’s Slots also earned a start in the rich final and he believes his horse can reverse the results when they meet again at The Championships.

“She ran super and she can turn the tables on them in the final. She just needs to relax a bit more,” Marshall said.

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