A gear change, wet weather and a distance rise.
It’s a combination trainer Colin Scott hopes can inspire Speediness to a breakthrough Group One win in the George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday .
Disregarding Speediness’s last-start Canterbury Stakes failure, Scott expects the six-year-old to stamp himself as a genuine Doncaster Mile contender with his performance in Saturday’s 1500m race.
Speediness winning the Bobbie Lewis Quality at Flemington - photo by Race Horse Photos Australia
Speediness has been thereabouts at Group One level, including a luckless fourth in the Toorak Handicap and a close third to George Ryder rival Boban in the Emirates Stakes.
A second-up placing behind star mare Appearance in the Apollo Stakes signalled he was on-track for a fruitful autumn.
Then came a seventh in the Canterbury Stakes when nothing went right.
“We’ve decided to just put last start behind us,” Scott said.
“He over-raced badly and Damien (Oliver) said he made a bit of a noise so we’re of the theory he maybe choked down.”
That prompted Scott to apply a tongue tie for the Ryder.
“He’s had a couple of really solid hitouts this week in the tongue tie and he hasn’t missed a beat,” Scott said.
“He’s come right on fitness-wise.”
Rosehill is rated heavy but the track conditions don’t concern Scott who believes the horse is at his best on rain-affected ground.
“I’m very confident whatever the going is he’ll get through it,” he said.
Speediness has 54kg in next month’s $3 million Doncaster Mile, 5kg less than he will carry under the weight-for-age conditions of the Ryder.
