A smart jumpout and another look at the track will have Heatherly primed for a spirited defence of her Carlyon Stakes crown at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
The mare was well-backed before getting the money first-up in last year's Carlyon Stakes and the daughter of Lonhro will again tackle the 2017 edition fresh.
The Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra-trained five-year-old led throughout to beat Saturday's Regal Roller Stakes winner Vega Magic in a Flemington jumpout on August 11. The footage of the jumpout is below.
"Her jumpout was terrific and she has worked well since," Zahra said.
"A bit of give in the ground will be perfect for her on Saturday and we expect her to run well fresh."
Heatherly and experienced stablemate Pin Your Hopes are scheduled to gallop at Moonee Valley on Tuesday morning but the speedster has had no trouble with the circuit in her previous runs.
Heatherly went on to run third to Wild Rain in the Group II McEwen Stakes (1000m) second-up last spring before a solid second to Extreme Choice in the Group I Moir Stakes (1000m) at her last run at the track.
A win at Listed level was the best effort of Heatherly's three-start autumn campaign, which ended with a battling eighth to Russian Revolution in the Group I Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill the autumn.
"She has had a good break and come back well and we expect a good run on Saturday," Zahra said.
Ellerton and Zahra will also kick off the spring campaign of Sword Of Light in the Dr Sheahan Plate (1200m).
Sword Of Light was around the mark in her first three autumn runs before hitting her best form over 1600m with two wins at Caulfield in April.
"She's going well but I'm just wondering whether she'll be sharp enough to win first-up over the 1200m," Zahra said.
"She's working well but she'll improve on what she does at Moonee Valley."
