Ken and Kasey Keys are looking at the bigger picture with their decision to take Scheelite to Flemington for his second race start.
A debut winner at Sandown on April 29, Scheelite runs in the Parade Lounge Sprint (1200m) on Saturday as a prelude to potentially bigger targets during the spring.
The Group 2 Danehill Stakes (1200m) and the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) down the straight at Flemington are in the back of the mind for the father-and-daughter training combination.
Rich Enuff won the Danehill Stakes for the stable in 2014 before going on to run second in the Caulfield Guineas ahead of being freshened to finish seventh in the Danehill Stakes.
Kasey Keys said Scheelite is as exciting as Rich Enuff in the early stages of his career and thought they would take the opportunity of heading to Flemington on Saturday before going out for a break.
“We just thought it was good to give him a bit more experience before he goes out for a break, but it also gives us a chance to give him a look at the Flemington straight,” Keys said.
“He took no harm from his debut. He’s been eating, has worked well and is a laid-back customer.”
Keys said there was nothing they could do to prepare Scheelite for tackling the Flemington straight for the first time but are preparing him for the long term.
She said Scheelite was professional in the way he goes about his work adding it was difficult to pinpoint why he might be as good as Rich Enuff.
“He does everything naturally, you’re not trying to make it happen. He just does it,” Keys said.
“He’s sectionals, you can’t fake them. He did it on debut and he probably only ran 400 metres.
“He’s professional the way he goes about things, and he doesn’t seem to be a horse that will have an issue with the track.”
All going well, Scheelite will head for a break following Saturday’s race with the Listed McKenzie Stakes at Moonee Valley, a race Rich Enuff won, or the Group 3 McNeil Stakes at Caulfield, pencilled in as potential spring kick-offs.