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Australian Racing News
Thursday, June 22 2017

A short-half head is all that separates Bryce Heys sitting at home watching Royal Ascot and being there with his talented New Zealand-bred sprinter Spieth.

Spieth - Bruno Canatelli

He could have competed against Lady Aurelia in the King's Stand Stakes or lined up in Saturday's Diamond Jubilee had it not been for two luckless defeats at Flemington in either the Darley Classic last spring or Black Caviar Lightning earlier this year.

And while competing at the famous meeting is still on the wish list, Heys' focus is firmly on getting his stallion back for the spring with a possible tilt at The Everest before another Melbourne campaign.

Spieth has returned to Hey's Warwick Farm base and is on target to trial in mid-August with either the Concorde Stakes on September 2 or The Shorts on September 16.

"He can either have one trial and resume in the Concorde or have two trials and be ready to go for The Shorts," Heys said.

"I'd say he would run in one of those races, unlikely to be both.

"His first-up run will be hugely important as it will gives us an indication as to where we are at.

"The Everest is there but there is a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and then.

"We haven't really had any serious chats about a slot at this stage, I'm just focusing on getting the horse right and if his form warrants being in the race then hopefully we can work something out."

It will be 12 months to the day on Saturday since Spieth travelled to Melbourne and won down the straight at Flemington, a run that proved to Heys his lightly-raced sprinter was ready for the next level.

"Coming back to Melbourne and targeting the Darley is a big focus of his campaign," Heys said.

"He is proven down the straight and track is generally firm, which is to his liking."

Posted by: AT 10:42 am   |  Permalink   |  Email
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