Trainer Bruce Hill hopes to know if talented Gold Coast sprinter Hey Elvis is capable of competing on a bigger stage next year after the gelding tackles the Listed Recognition Stakes at Eagle Farm.Hey Elvis has a few boxes he needs to tick in the 1600-metre feature on Saturday before Hill gives serious consideration to setting him for next year's Brisbane winter carnival."He's a very good horse and if he takes the right steps and keeps improving then a race like the Doomben Cup or even the Strad

Trainer Bruce Hill hopes to know if talented Gold Coast sprinter Hey Elvis is capable of competing on a bigger stage next year after the gelding tackles the Listed Recognition Stakes at Eagle Farm.

Hey Elvis has a few boxes he needs to tick in the 1600-metre feature on Saturday before Hill gives serious consideration to setting him for next year's Brisbane winter carnival.

"He's a very good horse and if he takes the right steps and keeps improving then a race like the Doomben Cup or even the Stradbroke Handicap next year might suit him," Hill said.

Hey Elvis has always shown potential throughout his 11-start career but was forced out of this year's winter carnival after he bled when ninth in the Listed Queensland Day Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm in April.

"It was a real kick in the guts that day," said Hill who was formerly Gerald Ryan's Gold Coast stable foreman.

"I was getting him ready for the Queensland Guineas and he would have been a big show.

"Had he gone well in the Guineas, he might have gone on to the Queensland Derby."

At the time Hill was left deflated when Hey Elvis incurred a mandatory three-month spell after he bled, but he now looks back on the setback as a blessing in disguise.

"It was very disappointing to miss out on the Queensland Guineas but in hindsight it gave him time to mature and strengthen during his break," he said.

"He's a lot stronger now and the good thing about him is that he keeps taking the right steps without hurting himself."

Hey Elvis has made a stunning comeback after a six-month spell, winning first-up at Doomben in October then easily accounting for Magic Millions Trophy winner Heart Of The Citi in a 1400-metre Class Six Plate at Eagle Farm on November 15.

However, the four-year-old still has several questions he needs to answer in the Recognition Stakes before Hill starts to pencil in a winter program next year.

The son of Clang is yet to start on a track rated worse than dead, is untried over 1600 metres and faces a steep class rise against a field of seasoned "milers".

Eagle Farm was rated a slow seven by course manager Bill Shuck on Friday but the weather forecast was for more showers.

"The wet track worries me to a degree but most Clangs handle the wet and I'm sure he will," he said.

"He won on a dead track as a two-year-old and he gives the impression he'll handle it.

"His mother, Queen Of Song, was a very good horse trained by Alan Bailey, and she won up to 1800 metres.

"He's up in grade this time but I'm not too concerned as he keeps improving and is such a relaxed horse."

Hey Elvis will again be ridden by Paul Hammersley whose biggest success was on the Ryan-trained Mon Mekki in the Group One Queensland Oaks (2400m) at Eagle Farm in 2002.