Albany galloper God Has Chosen chasing Group 1 victory for Lee brothers in $1.5 million Railway Stakes

Albany’s Neil Lee is daring to dream as he chases Group 1 success with brilliant galloper God Has Chosen. He and brothers Murray and Warren own the five-year-old gelding that will contest the $1.5 million Furphy Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot on Saturday. Lee was a former licensed trainer who prepared God Has Chosen for his initial racing, when he was a brilliant winner of his first two starts as a three-year-old in Albany. The son of Playing God has developed into one of WA’s most promising gallopers, being transferred to the metro stables of Lindsey Smith where he enjoyed an outstanding winter campaign. God Has Chosen won three successive races, the third being the Group 3 Belmont Sprint, and was then placed in Group 3 feature races the Hyperion Stakes and Strickland Stakes before being spelled. He returned to racing with an eighth to Resortman in the Group 3 Eurythmic Stakes (1400m) and then finished seventh to Massimo in the Group 2 Lee Steere Stakes (1400m) at his most recent run on November 5. The Lee brothers will be trackside to watch their horse contest the Group 1 feature race and Neil is hopeful they can be in the finish. “He’s won a couple of good ones in the winter time,” Lee said. “He was excellent in the winter, you couldn’t fault his form. He has been a little disappointing in the two runs back but he hasn’t been beaten far. “Hopefully he can run somewhere in the money, it’s a bit hard as a backmarker but we are pretty happy to have Clint Johnston-Porter back on him and if he can navigate a passage we’ll see what happens.” Now under trainer Donna Riordan, who was Smith’s WA stable representative, God Has Chosen will carry 55.5kg from barrier 17. Johnston-Porter was aboard for all three of the winter victories and the gelding has won eight of his 16 career starts. Warren Lee bred the horse and Neil said from an early age, they could tell he destined for bigger things. “Maybe not Group 1 level, but we thought he was up to listed and early Group level,” he said. “When you get maiden horses do what he did and then up in grade to class two and still green as grass and he destroyed them, really you know there is something there. “And the type of horse he was as well, he was always bred to get over a bit of ground. Once he got to a mile and beyond he was going to be a very good horse.” God Has Chosen was a $26 chance with TABtouch on Wednesday, and Alaskan God was $3.90 favourite.