Three-year-old filly Blondie made the perfect return from a hip fracture when beginning a possible Thousand Guineas campaign with a strong Sandown win on Wednesday.
Blondie was a comfortable debut winner at Moonee Valley back in January but was injured when last in the Group I Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield in February.
Blondie recovered well and tuned up for her first-up outing with two Caulfield jumpouts before she ran home well to score first-up in the Moorookyle Park Handicap (1000m).
"She's going a long way this girl and she's got a lot in front of her so it's a good start for her this time around," trainer Brendan McCarthy said.
"We were hoping to head through on the way to the Thousand Guineas and I think this was a good stepping stone for her."
Blondie showed speed in her two-year-old season but McCarthy said he issued apprentice Ethan Brown with different instructions for her first-up outing, which the young jockey carried out perfectly.
Blondie ($11) settled fourth before she ran on well to beat Fox Swift, who firmed from $4.80 to a $3.70 favourite, by three-quarters of a length while Miss Vixen ($8) was third.
"It was a bit of a look-see today after having the problem with the injury last start," McCarthy said.
"I knew we could have gone through and led today but I just said to Ethan, 'I want you just to sit back about third or fourth' and he did exactly that.
"She travelled very sweetly and she really had to pick up and go to catch that leader, who had a nice run in front and took a lot of catching.
"She can settle. She's got a very mature head on her shoulders and she can handle everything you put in front of her."
So Far Sokool eased from $3.90 to $5 before finishing fourth after leading while Pageantry drifted from $3.80 to $4.40 after opening at $4.20 but finished sixth, 3-3/4 lengths from the winner.
Blondie sits off the speed and once @Brown_ethan8 let her down she put them away in the first @LadbrokesPark for Brendan McCarthy. pic.twitter.com/6TuGJWRFWB
— Racing.com (@Racing) August 30, 2017
