Trainer Darren Weir has confirmed early spring plans to target the 2017 Memsie Stakes, the first Group 1 race of the new season, with Black Heart Bart who won the Caulfield feature last year.

Former Perth-raced champion Black Heart Bart has been in flying form since joining the Weir stables in Victoria two years ago including the son of Blackfriars winning five Group 1 races to date.

The first of his elite level wins was in the 2016 The Goodwood over the 1200m at Morphettville, while his second was in last August’s Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m).

The Memsie Stakes prize money had doubled to $1 million in 2017, a juicy prize for the defending champion who has proved a gun over the distance.

A Group 1 winner up to 1800m in the Underwood Stakes of 2016, Black Heart Bart’s other two top level success were over the 1400m at Caulfield Racecourse.

Proven to be his pet track and distance, he took out this February’s CF Orr Stakes – Futurity Stakes double before a seventh when unsuccessfully defending his The Goodwood title in Adelaide.

Black Heart Bart was last seen racing at Eagle Farm on May 27 with a Heavy (8) track getting the better of him when a distant fifth to Clearly Innocent in the Group 1 Kingsford-Smith Cup (1300m).

Back to 1400m at Caulfield should see an improved performance from the rising seven-year-old who has amassed over $3.4 million in career prize money.

The Memsie Stakes 2017 is scheduled for September 2 and if successful, Black Heart Bart will become the race’s first back-to-back winner since star mare Sunline in 2000-01.

Black Heart Bart is back in training ahead of his spring return having stayed on in Queensland over the break.

“He’s back in work up there and he’ll be back down here soon,” Weir told Racing Victoria.

“He was having a couple of weeks off and then 10 days on the water walker and then come down, but everything’s good with him.”

The Memsie Stakes is also the confirmed early spring target for Shane Nichols’ Myer Classic winning filly I Am A Star who was last seen running third in the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville in early May.

The past two Memsie Stakes winners both came off a Stradbroke Handicap second in Brisbane.

This year the Stradbroke Handicap was run over 1350m at Doomben on June 10 and was won by the Godolphin-raced three-year-old Impending who beat home In Her Time (2^nd).

In Her Time started favourite in last weekend’s Group 1 Tattersall’s Tiara against her own kind, but a luckless run after missing the jump saw her cross third behind Tycoon Tara (1^st) and Prompt Response (2^nd).

Trainer Ben Smith has since confirmed plans to go straight to Moonee Valley on October 27 with In Her Time this Cox Plate Carnival for a late spring return in the Group 1 Ladbrokes Manikato Stakes (1200m).

To back Black Heart Bart first-up in the Memsie Stakes 2017 field at the right spring racing odds head to Ladbrokes.com.au today.