Photo: Dan Costello
Queensland trainer Shannon Price is so excited about Speak The Truth's looming NZ raid, she's stretching it out.
Price revealed her Miracle Mile placegetter would now definitely stay on for the Taylor Mile and Messenger.
And she's already planning another Kiwi trip for the huge NZ Trotting Cup in November, but more on that later.
Speak The Truth, one of the emerging stars of Aussie harness, showed he was right where Price wanted him ahead with a sparkling Albion Park trial yesterday. He heads to Sydney by road tonight (Wednesday) ahead of a flight to Auckland on Sunday.
Speak The Truth is the lone Queensland representative and one of only three Aussies – Victorian pair Better Eclipse and Rock N Roll Doo are the others – contesting the $NZ1mil The Race By Grins at Cambridge Raceway on Friday week.
“We’ve had to think on our feet a bit with the (bad) weather forecast here and in Sydney, so we took the risk of missing work out of the equation by going to the trial yesterday,” Price said.
“He can get a bit above himself, so we wanted a solid hit-out, but he shied at a couple of clerk of the course horses with a lap to go and sort of took off on Adam (Sanderson, driver) so he went a bit quicker than we’d planned.”
Speak The Truth blazed a 1min53.5sec mile rate for 1660m in the trial, sizzling home in 54.3 and 27.3sec.
“He’s in a great place. He won’t need to do a lot more by way of serious work between now and the race, It’s more keeping him up to the mark,” Price said.
“We’ll him down to Sydney nice and early to settle there and break up the trip before he gets on the plane Sunday morning to Auckland.
“It’s exciting. It’s shaping like a great race and it’ll be a buzz to be part of it.
“We feel we’ve got a horse good enough on what he’s done in recent starts and now, like so many of the key runners, we’re sweating on getting a good barrier.”
The barrier draw for The Race By Grins and accompanying TAB Trot will be held on Monday.
Price said she was looking forward to an extended stay in NZ.
“Yes, he’ll stay for the Taylor Mile and Messenger the couple of weeks after the Grins, too,” she said.
“It makes sense when you’re going that far and he’s still on the up so it’s good to have some other targets.
“We’re looking very seriously at taking him back for the NZ Cup in November, too,” Price said. “In fact, I’ve tentatively got some stabling booked in at Christchurch.
“I know it means we’ll probably bump into Leap To Fame as it seems he’s being set for the NZ Cup as well, but so be it.
“If we target the NZ Cup, he’ll have a good spell after these NZ races and miss the Queensland winter features. And if he goes to the NZ Cup, we wouldn’t bring him back and go to the Inter Dominion, either.” - Adam Hamilton
