Chris Waller declares Leebaz the horse to beat in Saturday’s Doomben Cup

GROUP 1 rookie Leebaz has found an unlikely admirer, with Australia’s leading trainer Chris Waller conceding he is the horse to beat in the Doomben Cup.

Leebaz and James McDonald surge away to win the Hawkesbury Cup.

GROUP 1 rookie Leebaz has found an unlikely admirer, with Australia’s leading trainer Chris Waller conceding the untapped four-year-old is the one to beat in the Doomben Cup on Saturday.

Waller, who will be represented by Junoob ($6) and Moriarty ($11) in the Doomben Cup, was impressed by Leebaz’s three wins in weaker grade and feels he has the ability to star in his Group 1 debut.

“I’ve got a good handle on Leebaz’s form and I think he is a very good horse, the one to beat,” Waller said.

“The thing that impresses me the most about him is he just wins.’’

Waller’s big opinion of the Team Hawkes-trained galloper came after Leebaz’s regular jockey James McDonald declared the rising star was definitely a Group 1 horse.

Jockey James McDonald.

In-form McDonald knows what it takes to win middle-distance majors and guided It’s A Dundeel to six Group 1 wins from 1600m-2400m.

While Leebaz is a long way from being mentioned in the same breath as It’s A Dundeel, McDonald feels he can take the next step towards stardom on Saturday.

“The Hawkes camp definitely know what they’ve got with this horse and if he wasn’t there to win they wouldn’t be taking him,” McDonald said.

“He is a horse that only does what he has to but I think he has still got a lot up his sleeve.

“His strongest attributes are his will to win and he can reel off quick sectionals over a long distance as well.

“I think he is definitely a Group 1 horse and he is big and powerful horse.”

Leebaz has won three of his four runs this campaign, including a career best victory in the Group 3 Hawkesbury Gold Cup (1600m) on May 3.

After strong support for the Sydney raider earlier this week, money is now coming for several other Doomben Cup runners as well as punters start to doubt whether Leebaz can handle the massive jump to weight-for-age company.

Along with a step up in class, Leebaz also rises 5kg in weight from his Hawkesbury Gold Cup win and is also going up 400m in distance.

But McDonald feels the Zabeel gelding will rise to the challenge.

“The 2000m won’t be a problem because he is a big robust horse and the weight shouldn’t be a problem either,” he said.

“Obviously he hasn’t carried that weight for a while but it shouldn’t stop him anyway.”

While he concedes Leebaz is the one to beat, Waller is still upbeat he can claim his third Doomben Cup in the past five years with either Junoob or Moriarty.

Waller is praying for a dry track and feels Junoob could be the sharp improver after finishing fourth to Streama in the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes (1800m) a fortnight ago.

“Junoob has got the chance to go to the next level where Moriarty is pretty standard,” he said.