At Rosehill to start his day, Bryce Heys was absent for the reappearance of his 100th success story as Flying For Fun secured her breakthrough Group placing in the Maurice McCarten Stakes.
Heys had saddled Mailata to fourth in Sydney’s curtain-raiser before dashing via the freeway to Gosford provincials, where Banjora featured in the finale.
“He was here and then we tagged in and out,” Heys’ stable representative, Tammy Blair, said.
“He’s gone to Gosford to saddle up Banjora. So he’s there, and I’m here.”
Returning from Listed Starlight Stakes (1100m) glory at Rosehill in November, Flying For Fun at $5 proved too strong for persistent Mal Coupe ($9) by a long neck, King’s Secret ($4 fav) third and 1-1/4 lengths adrift.
Blair mentioned Heys’ history with Flying For Fun’s sire Spieth and dam Vol Prive amplified the victory’s appeal.
“We’re very happy. We had mum and dad, so this makes it that little bit special,” she said.
For his sixth mount on the four-year-old through 12 starts, jockey Zac Lloyd applauded her dominance over decent rivals and her development beyond her prior spell.
“She’s come back super,” Lloyd said.
“Much more mature and stronger. For her to do that first-up, that was a pretty strong Maurice McCarten Stakes, and she’s done it really nice.”
Connections lack a fixed autumn itinerary, yet Lloyd believes her settling ability now creates more paths forward.
“I’m sure Bryce will find a good option for her, but she’s so tractable now,” he said.
“She can come from right up on the speed, or just off the speed. It definitely opens a lot of doors.”
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