Early start for Speciosa



by David Carr


RAGS-TO-RICHES Classic winner Speciosa looks set to make another early start to her season after a full recovery from the setback which cut short her 2006 campaign.

The filly, who was bought for just 30,000gns but defied her origins to land the 1,000 Guineas last spring, made a successful reappearance as a three-year-old in Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket and she is likely to make her comeback in the Craven meeting again in April.

Outlining plans, trainer Pam Sly said on Saturday: “I am looking probably at the Sefton, followed by the Lokinge. She likes that sort of ground, and last year she seemed quite good early on.

“We never thought about retiring her - we want to have another year and a bit of fun.  “She is very well. She has been on the walker for two hours a day through the winter. She hada hot spot in her near-hind cannon, which they said if I had carried on training her would probably have got a fracture. So we have now got her walls in her box all lined with a rubber floor - whether that will help I don’t know!”

There were many attempts to buy Speciosa after her successful juvenile campaign and Sly revealed that she and the other owners have turned down more offers for her this winter.

“One or two people have rung but I just say we are going to keep her,” she said. “I suppose shewould be quite valuable but we bought her to race - you could have all the money in the world and never buy another one.”