Eight years after dual Group One placegetter Spieth was retired to stud, his trainer Bryce Heys has celebrated a stakes win at Rosehill with one of the stallion’s daughters.
Flying For Fun returned from a two-start campaign in Melbourne to take out Saturday’s Listed Starlight Stakes (1100m) and Heys said the victory held extra significance given the mare’s pedigree.
Not only is she a daughter of Spieth, who finished agonisingly close seconds in the 2016 Darley Classic (1200m) and 2017 Lightning Stakes (1000m), but her dam, Sebring mare Vol Prive, was also prepared by the trainer.
While she didn’t manage a win in 10 starts, Heys said Vol Prive showed ability and had been purchased specifically as a mating match for Spieth.
“It’s funny how racing throws up good stories, and she is a good story,” Heys said of Flying For Fun.
“We bought her father. We bought her mother off the same farm with a view to sending her to her father.
“Her mum had a lot of ability at home . . . and this is the result.”
Runner-up in two black type races during the autumn, Flying For Fun added another feature placing in the Group 3 Begonia Belle Stakes (1100m) during the Melbourne Cup carnival then wasn’t disgraced behind Giga Kick in the Champions Sprint (1200m).
Heys said he always had the Starlight Stakes back of mind and was thrilled to see the four-year-old execute perfectly.
“She’s been racing well. Things haven’t gone our way at any start, really,” he said.
“Good horses capitalise on good set-ups, and that’s what she did.”
Heys has just 13 horses in work at Warwick Farm and said winning a Saturday race in Sydney, particularly at stakes level, was a big deal.
He will let the dust settle before making a plan with Flying For Fun but confirmed the Razor Sharp Handicap (1200m) at Randwick in two weeks was among the options.
