Father-and-daughter duo Ken and Kasey Keys have always managed to find a horse to inspire hope, with Rich Enuff and Soul Patch coming close to Group 1 success.

More recently, Scheelite seemed poised to become a Group 1 contender after winning his first two starts. However, his spring 2023 campaign was disappointing, finishing seventh in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) and 11th in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes. In the following autumn, he showed some promise but couldn’t regain his best form.

Scheelite showed some improvement last spring, finishing third at Flemington and fourth at Geelong. It was after the Geelong race that the Keys discovered the issue holding Scheelite back: a lactic acid problem.

“There’s been plenty of excuses each run, but now that he’s up against the big boys, he has to stand up and prove himself,” Kasey Keys said.

After changing his diet, Scheelite has shown improvement and will line up for his third start this campaign in the Carlton Draught Benchmark 74 Handicap (1600m) at Bendigo on Saturday. Although the Listed Golden Mile (1600m) was preferred, he was too far down the order of entry.

Keys is optimistic, noting that while his first two runs this campaign were satisfactory, there’s hope for more improvement moving forward.