Newcastle trainer Kris Lees has been described as a "consistently elite player" and praised for his nous in "race selections" after reaching 200 winners for a second straight season.
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The NSW premiership leader made it back-to-back double centuries when High Opinion saluted at Randwick on Saturday, following on from a career-best 249 victories across the nation in 2018-19.
Lees first cracked the single ton with 161 winners in 2016-17, having narrowly missed on 99 the season prior, and backed that up with 192 during 2017-18.
The Broadmeadow-based preparer has found his way into the top five on the Australian tally board for the last four years and currently sits fourth.
"Kris is now a consistently elite player in a hughely competitive game," Newcastle Jockey Club chief executive officer Matt Benson said.
"His continuing success reflects on the quality of his whole operation - both equine and human.
"Let's hope the NJC's plans for new stable facilities become reality sooner rather than later to reward his unwavering commitment to Newcastle."
Australian Bloodstock director Luke Murrell, who has a strong partnership with Lees through ownership, says the trainer is a master of his craft.
"A lot of people think Kris has got a lot of horses, but he hasn't really got that many especially compared to some of the bigger trainers," Murrell said. "He's very good at placing horses, being patient with them and waiting for the right race."
Lees, who has around 100 horses at Newcastle and a dozen on the Gold Coast, said the introduction of a second base in recent years has "definitely" helped increase his amount of winners.
"I'm not that big on things like that [milestones] but it's a good refelction of the people we have around us," Lees said. "Good staff, a good number of horses and well supported by our clients."
With less than one month left in a coronavirus-affected 2019-20 season, Lees has 179 winners in NSW and leads eight-time defending champion Chris Waller by 6.5 in the race for state honors.
"That [NSW premiership] will look after itself, what will be will be," he said.
Lees continues his campaign at Newcastle on Tuesday before heading north with Graff for the Ramornie Handicap on Wednesday while Chilly Cha Cha, Frankely Awesome, Big Duke and Sixties Groove are nominated for the Grafton Cup on Thursday.
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