HE copped a horror barrier eight draw, but such is the talent Jilliby Nitro has displayed thus far that he still holds favouritism for the Gold Crown Final.
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A member of Margaret Lee's Terang stable, Jilliby Nitro was the fastest qualifier for Friday night's Group 1 decider for two-year-old colts and geldings.
He clocked a 1:54.5 mile rate to win his heat at the Bathurst Gold Crown Paceway by 21.6 metres. Perhaps even more promising for Lee was that he looked to have more in reserve.
It backed up an impressive debut win where he got home in a 27.1 seconds split, so it's no surprise reinsman Jason Lee said he "couldn't be happier with" Jilliby Nitro.
"He's travelled up great and his run in the heat was really good," Lee told Gait Speed.
"We're really happy with the horse, a little bit disappointed with the barrier draw, but the old saying goes it's only a bad gate before the race."
The Bettors Delight colt out of Kiewa Valley was snapped up for $80,000 at the 2018 Australian Pacing Gold sale in Sydney, where Lee said his mother, and "the uncles ... paid a bit of money for him".
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"After [Jilliby] Kung Fu won up in Sydney they sort of went out and spent the winnings the next day," he said. "We've always had a nice opinion of him. You never know until you set them loose, but he's always shone plenty at home, we've just always liked him and the more we've asked of him the better he's got."
So much so that Lee said the stable has fast-tracked the two-year-old's program to ready him for Friday night's feature.
"He was good first-up in Bendigo and [we] probably just thought this series was here and while the horse was fit and healthy we'd come and have a go at it," Lee said.
"The APG was probably the original plan to have him up and going for that. He's come along nice and was ready to go, so probably about six weeks ago we looked into this and started to plan around this."
The final will jump at 9.40pm.
