HIS Stradbroke Handicap ride has changed, but Novocastrian Blake Spriggs hopes his two-week isolation boot camp in Queensland will still pay off twofold.
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Spriggs travelled to Queensland a fortnight ago to quarantine so he could ride the John Thompson-trained Grand Piano in the Stradbroke, but the three-year-old then needed to run in the Fred Best Classic on Saturday to chase a start. However, owner Paul Fudge cancelled the plan and scratched Grand Piano, leaving Spriggs tossing up other options.
He was excited to get the job on Peter and Paul Snowden-trained three-year-old Hightail, which has a start in this Saturday's group 1 at Eagle Farm. The last-start Gold Coast Guineas winner, which has 50 kilograms, was $15 with the TAB.
"I had a couple of offers but once I saw the replays, I was pretty keen to get on Hightail," Spriggs said. "I rang Paul Snowden and China Horse Club and put my case forward and to offer to ride him in work on Tuesday. I'm really looking forward to it. He's a really nice horse.
"He got towards the 99 rating on his last run, and with the weight this time, it puts him around the 105 mark. The last few years, horses that have run that sort of rating have ended up in the first three. That gave me a lot of confidence to choose him. It wasn't easy but it's a nice problem to have, choosing between three horses in a group 1."
He ended quarantine on Sunday at Winston Wallabies Retreat in Sheldon, where he has trained daily to have lightweight chances. He begins trackwork Monday and hopes to also secure a group 1 JJ Atkins Stakes ride.
"There's a couple of nibbles, so hopefully we can pick up a group 1 ride there, too. That will make it even more worthwhile," said Spriggs, who was down to 50.8kg.
"There's a couple or irons in the fire. I'm going to go in tomorrow and ride a couple for Chris Munce, Gai [Waterhouse] and for Godolphin hopefully."
Spriggs was also thinking of staying in Queensland longer in the hope COVID-19 restrictions ease and he can avoid another two-week quarantine when he returns home to Sydney, where he lives with fiancee and fellow jockey Rachel King.