Spieth retired eight years ago, but his former trainer Bryce Heys enjoyed a nostalgic moment at Rosehill when the stallion’s daughter Flying For Fun captured the Listed Starlight Stakes (1100m).

The mare returned from a brief Melbourne stint to secure her first stakes win, a result that carried added meaning for Heys given her pedigree.

Flying For Fun is by Spieth, the brilliant sprinter who went within a whisker of Group One glory in the 2016 Darley Classic and 2017 Lightning Stakes. Her dam Vol Prive, a Sebring mare also trained by Heys, was purchased specifically with a Spieth mating in mind.

“It’s funny how racing throws up good stories, and she is a good story,” Heys said.

“We bought her father. We bought her mother off the same farm with a view to sending her to her father.

“Her mum had a lot of ability at home . . . and this is the result.”

The mare had already performed well in quality company, placing in the Group 3 Begonia Belle Stakes (1100m) and running admirably behind Giga Kick in the Champions Sprint.

Heys had long earmarked the Starlight Stakes and was delighted with how the race unfolded.

“She’s been racing well. Things haven’t gone our way at any start, really,” he said.

“Good horses capitalise on good set-ups, and that’s what she did.”

With a boutique team of just 13 horses at Warwick Farm, Heys said a Saturday stakes win in Sydney is particularly meaningful.

The Razor Sharp Handicap at Randwick is among the possibilities for her next run.