Bryce Heys was the trainer of ill-fated stallion Spieth, a brilliant stakes-winning sprinter who died after just four seasons at stud, and he is also putting the polish on his best runner to date Flying for Fun.
A lightly raced four-year-old mare, Flying for Fun closed out her spring campaign winning the Listed ATC Starlight Stakes and kicked off in 2026 in a similar vein.
Ridden by Zac Lloyd, she was well tuned up with a recent trial win and skipped clear to win the G3 ATC Maurice McCarten Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill on Saturday by half a length.
🔹YARRAMAN GRAD 🔹
Kicking off her Autumn campaign in similar fashion to the way she ended her Spring campaign – winning at black type level, @ellerslielodge's FLYING FOR FUN (4m) wins the G3 Maurice McCarten Stakes (1100m) @rosehillgardens with @ZacLloydx in the saddle.
It's… pic.twitter.com/s2hYBGKQjO
— Yarraman Park Stud (@yarramanpark) March 14, 2026
“She’s really good, she’s come back super. Much more mature and stronger,” said Zac Lloyd.
“For her to do that first-up, that was a pretty strong Maurice McCarten, and she’s done it really nice.”
“She left as a good horse on the rise and she’s come back a much more mature mare and physically stronger, which needed to happen for her to keep rising. That’s a good kick-off for her preparation.
“I had a lapful of horse the whole way. She really handles high pressure and I think that’s a great asset of hers.”
Flying for Fun was foaled and raised at Yarraman Park for her breeder/owner Michael O’Keeffe and has the impressive record of four wins and four placings from 12 starts with prizemoney just shy of $540,000.
O’Keeffe was also in the ownership of Flying for Fun’s sire Spieth and raced and retained her dam Vol Prive to breed with.
The second stakes-winner for Spieth, Flying for Fun is sadly the only foal of her dam Vol Prive, who died in 2022. A placed daughter of Sebring, she comes from a European female family with German G1 winner Empoli the best horse in the immediate family.
