Speak The Truth Photo by Dan Costello
LEAP To Fame won't be the only serious Queensland flavour at Menangle in the coming weeks.
Trainer Shannon Price confirmed her stable star Speak The Truth was Menangle-bound after a sparkling racetrack return at Albion Park last Saturday night.
Five-year-old Speak The Truth will join younger stablemate Sure Thing Captain, who produced a huge and career-best run for third to Better Be The Best and Its Merlin in last Saturday night's Paleface Adios Stakes at Menangle.
That run cemented Sure Thing Captain's spot in Saturday night's $250,000 Group 1 Chariots Of Fire (1609m), where he will start from gate six with Adam Sanderson aboard.
"It was like a win in many ways," Price said. "He drew so wide, and the race wasn't run to suit, but he still ran such a great race."
"And then you think it was his first run since early last September and know how much he'll improve off the run."
"This is an amazingly strong Chariots, one of the strongest we've seen, but I'm sure our guy will be competitive."
"You go through the field, and you think all these are already or will be really top horses."
"We'd love to have drawn a bit better, maybe inside a couple of those big guns, but it's better than last week. We know we'll need a lot to go right."
Speak The Truth will tackle one of the two qualifying sprints on Saturday night in the hope of gaining a $1mil Miracle Mile berth a week later.
Despite being first-up and coming out of a lacklustre trial, Speak The Truth was stunning after doing his share of work at Albion Park last Saturday night.
With stand-in driver Nathan Dawson aboard, Speak The Truth powered to a 3.9m win in a slick 1min52.6sec mile rate for 1660m.
"Nathan said he felt great and could've gone another lap, which doesn't surprise me because he's more of a stayer than a speedster," Price said.
"We said we would bring him down to Sydney if he ran well, and he certainly did that."
"The mile races this week won't suit him ideally, but there looks to be more depth to the Chariots Of Fire than the sprints, so we'll give it a shot."
"If we get a run, we'd love to be part of a Miracle Mile; if not, we'll be happy to go around in the $100,000 free-for-all over the longer (2400m) trip on the same night."
Price reiterated her hope Speak The Truth's winning return would spark interest from remaining slot owners in the $NZ1mil Race By Grins at Cambridge on April 12 or the $1.25mil Nullarbor at Gloucester Park a week later.
"We've had one call and they're considering him, but we're open to offers and would love to have a crack at one of those races," she said.
"I guess they'll be watching closely over the next couple of weeks to see how he goes against these top horses."
