Testa Rossa gelding Speediness returned from a winter spell with a whirlwind finish in the LR Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) at Flemington on Saturday.

A last-start winner of the LR Scone Cup (1600m) in May, he came from the back half of the field to blouse out Group 1 sprinters Temple Of Boom and Albrecht at headquarters.

Speediness (6g Testa Rossa – Fine Glass by Flying Spur) was an $18,000 graduate from the 2009 Inglis Melbourne Premier yearling sale and has now earned over $572,000.  “He was ready to win first-up,” trainer Colin Scott said.  “But there’s definitely a lot of improvement left in him.

“He didn’t have a lot of time off after Scone and his work had been exceptional,” Scott added.  “He deserves a crack at the big races and will be set for the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes and the Toorak Hcp.”

Speediness won over the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes course and distance in the Pink Ribbon Cup (1400m) at Caulfield in April.  He is by Vinery stallion Testa Rossa who won the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes in 1999 and 2000.

Testa Rossa has sired 76 stakes winners and has built up a sky-high winning strike-rate of 73%.  He’s arguably the best value-for-money sire in the Hunter Valley standing at Vinery for a $27,500 (inc gst) service fee.

Speediness is the final foal of Fine Glass and is a younger half-brother to De Fine Lago (Delago Brom) who won the Banjo Paterson Series Final at Flemington in July.

– Karl Patterson