THE pre-dawn trackwork sessions in late winter are when the spring stars begin to shine.

It’s just after 5am in Newcastle and trainer Kris Lees is peering intently through binoculars as he watches the course proper gallops.

There’s Smart Melody sprinting by, then Miss Fabulass followed by Gem Song. Last Saturday’s San Domenico Stakes winner Graff has an easy workout.

Any trainer would love to be in Lees’ position going into the spring carnival, boasting this quality quartet of three-year-olds in their stable.

Two boom fillies and a pair of unbeaten colts.

“I wouldn’t have had so many promising three-year-olds in one season before,’’ Lees said. “You do bounce out of bed a bit easier when the alarm goes off at 4.30am each day.”

But the champion Newcastle trainer has also been in the game long enough not to get carried away with the hype, either.

“I’ve seen plenty of trackwork stars over the years but it only matters what they do on race day, the rest is all talk,” Lees said.

So far, so good for Lees as Smart Melody, Graff and Gem Song are unbeaten and Miss Fabulass has a debut second and an impressive win from her only two starts.

“They have always shown enough to suggest they could win races,’’ Lees said.

“I didn’t push them as two-year-olds so hopefully their connections are rewarded for their patience this season.

“With my two-year-olds, I rarely push them unless they show me they can and want to do it.

“If you are kind to young horses, I feel it gives them more of an opportunity to reach their potential.

“Then as they turn three, as a trainer you like to see the change in them physically and also to see that mental maturity, too. At trackwork, you get a feel if they are going one way or the other — plenty go the wrong way.’’

Fortunately for Lees, Smart Melody, Miss Fabulass, Gem Song and Graff are heading in the right direction.

“Thankfully, they have improved since their juvenile season,’’ the trainer said. “Graff and Miss Fabulass have returned to win first-up, but I guess Smart Melody and Gem Song have to prove themselves now.”

Smart Melody gets her opportunity to convince Lees she is ready to go to the next level when she resumes in the Spring Time Handicap (1100m) at Wyong on Friday.

Then at Royal Randwick on Saturday, Miss Fabulass lines up in the Group 2 $200,000 Furious Stakes, while Gem Song has been scratched in the ATC Heritage Society Handicap (1300m).

Smart Melody scored two brilliant wins, each by more than five lengths, at Newcastle and Canterbury in June and has since trialled very well when a close second to Group 1 winner El Dorado Dreaming at Newcastle last week.

Lees said Smart Melody’s emergence had caught the stable a little by surprise.

“Before her first start, she was showing us a bit on the track but it was within herself,’’ Lees said. “We had another horse in that race and a few of the track riders were divided as to who was the better chance, which just shows you there is no rhyme or reason to this game.’’

Lees said he was hopeful of stretching Smart Melody’s natural speed out to 1600m this spring.

“The 1100m at Wyong (Friday) I saw as an attractive option to kick off her campaign,’’ Lees said. “We may then consider going straight to Melbourne and potentially get her on the Thousand Guineas path.

“I just feel the Flight Stakes will come around a bit quick. I’m not sure if she is a genuine miler, either, so we will let her tell us which races we aim her for during the spring.’’

Lees already has a ready-made Flight Stakes contender in the exciting Miss Fabulass, the regally bred filly by English superhorse Frankel out of the trainer’s former champion filly Samantha Miss.

John Singleton is the owner of Miss Fabulass and Lees was delighted to be given the filly to train. Lees is asking Miss Fabulass to emulate Samantha Miss, who won a Furious Stakes a decade ago as part of a Princess Series clean sweep that culminated with a runaway Flight Stakes victory.

“Miss Fabulass showed us a bit straight away,” Lees said.

“She can be a touch aggressive in her work but she is getting better all the time. Her mum was the same, maybe not quite as aggressive.

“This filly has a lot of her mum in her, she is starting to look like her, similar markings and attitude. Samantha Miss is still the best horse I’ve trained and, as promising as Miss Fabulass is, she has to do it on race day. This will be a good test for her (Saturday).”

Unbeaten colt Graff is being reserved for the Run To The Rose next week, while Lees decided to scratch Gem Song from the opener at Randwick on Saturday to wait for the Kensington meeting next Wednesday.