Blake Spriggs pays emotional tribute to Headwall owner after win in The Warra

Blake Spriggs struggled to contain his emotions after riding Headwall to victory in The Warra for a friend whose wife died last year.

Blake Spriggs scored an emotional win aboard Headwall in The Warra at Kembla Grange. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

An emotional Blake Spriggs pointed to the heavens after helping propel Headwall to a lucrative 1000m track-record win at Kembla Grange on Saturday.

Spriggs struggled to contain his emotions when the Matthew Smith-trained galloper arrived late to prevail in the Group 3 $300,000 The Warra (1000m).

Headwall is part-owned by Spriggs’ long-time supporter and friend Reg Young.

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Young’s wife Marie sadly died last year after battling motor neurone disease (MND).

“I stayed with Reg on Thursday and we watched all of (Headwall’s) replays and all the replays of his family,” Spriggs said.

“There is eight horses out of this family that I’ve won on and one of the owners, Marie, died of MND last year.

“We had the funeral on top of the hill up there and I was really wanted to give the family something to be happy about because they’ve done it tough.

“They deserve to get something special like this and let them know their mum and wife are still looking over.”

Headwall FLIES home and wins The Warra for @mcsmithracing! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/n0qyYdOdBy

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 23, 2024

Spriggs piloted Suparazi to a second in the $1m The Gong but got his moment less than an hour later.

He didn’t have a runner behind him 600m from home before launching his challenge out widest at the top of the straight.

Headwall ($7.50) produced a powerful turn of speed to overpower the Joseph Pride’s Dragonstone ($5) by half a length while the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr-trained Hedged ($3 favourite) was a further half-length away in third.

The win came in a new 1000m benchmark of 55.92sec.

Headwall finishes over the top of Dragonstone to win The Warra. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

“The track worried us a little bit when it started to firm up but the horse has been going well,” Smith said.

“Dropping back in the weights was a big advantage for him and Blake (Spriggs) found the right part of the track and got the job done.

“He is a 1000m specialist. He is a nice horse and there are plenty of wins to come I would say.”

Headwall is building an excellent record of six wins and six placings from 13 starts but his latest was undoubtedly his biggest success to date.

The Warra had been a target race for Smith and his speedy sprinter.

“This is the race at the start of the prep where we said if we can get here today, that would be it,” Smith said.

“I will have a look (if there are any other races for him now). He is going very well the horse so there is no reason why he can’t run again.”

Originally published as Blake Spriggs pays emotional tribute to Headwall owner after win in The Warra