Spriggs gets early Rosehill double

By Mathew Toogood

SYDNEY, June 9 AAP - It has taken a lot of hard work but apprentice Blake Spriggs is starting to make his mark again in Sydney racing, highlighted by an early winning double at Rosehill on Saturday.

Spriggs hit the headlines two years ago when he rode five winners in a day at Rosehill.

The past 12 months, however, have been a lean period for the apprentice in Sydney and he has continued to hone his skills in the country and provincial areas, determined to make his way back to the spotlight.

Spriggs opened the day at Rosehill with an all-the-way win on the Rod Craig-trained two-year-old Raise The Level before scoring in the next race aboard three-year-old Choice Words.

"It's been a long time coming. Lots of travelling," Spriggs said.

"I've been doing a lot of work for such a long time, travelling more than 1000 kilometres a week going to meetings just trying to work really hard to get back into Sydney.

"Even though I rode that city winner on Palasport here a couple of weeks ago, coming back to town today with a 1.5 kilo claim shows what I've got and what I can offer.

"I've really learned a lot riding around the country areas without a claim."

Spriggs elected to let Raise The Level work across to the front instead of being caught wide in the St George Motor Boat Club Handicap (1200m) and it proved a winning move as the gelding accelerated away in the straight to win by 2-3/4-lengths.

"He'll improve a lot off that today and it wouldn't surprise me if he put a few wins together now," Spriggs said.

The half-neck victory on the David Vandyke-trained Choice Words in the Michael Hansell Signs Handicap (1200m) delighted Spriggs as he had built up a good association with the filly and her connections.

"The owner has been very good to me and stuck by me a lot," Spriggs said.

"They just wanted to try a senior rider for a few starts earlier this preparation and it paid dividends for them and now they have put me back on her and it's great to get the win today.

"I did a lot of work with this filly early on. She's a nice horse and next time in is going to be her proper campaign."

Choice Words defeated the Steve Englebrecht-trained Malavio with a long neck to Soledad in third.