Talented five-year-old Step Aside was untroubled to make his return to competition a winning one when successful at Randwick on Saturday.
The Chris Waller representative was making his first appearance since winning at Rosehill two months ago and a jump-out in between times had him in prime order to resume.
A son of Westbury Stud’s Redwood, Step Aside loped along near the back of the field under rider James McDonald who had the gelding into the clear 300 metres from home.
He accelerated quickly to drive to the front and comfortably held his rivals at bay to take his record to a tidy five wins and eight placings from 21 starts.
He has won more than A$375,000 for owners OTI Racing and partners following his private purchase.
Step Aside was originally bought by trainer Ralph Manning off Gavelhouse for $2300 and sold after winning his only trial as a three-year-old on the synthetic track at Cambridge.
He is out of the Roc De Cambes mare Teena Rox whose dam is a sister to the G2 Brisbane Cup winner Crossyourheart.
Meanwhile, Early Bird capitalised on a perfect run to post the first winning strike of her career at Awapuni on Anzac Day.
The daughter of Redwood’s associate stallion Ferrando had placed at her previous appearances at Ellerslie and Tauranga before deservedly breaking through over 1600 metres.
Early Bird was bred by co-trainer Graeme Rogerson, who also manages owner the Ferrando Racing Club, and his granddaughter Bailey gave the filly a dream run.
They bounced out well to settle in the trail before working into the clear at the top of the straight and fought doggedly to the wire to prevail in a driving finish.
“She’s better on the pace with something to chase and she was tough in the straight, hopefully she can go on with it now,” Bailey Rogerson said.
Early Bird is the first foal of the Duelled mare Nakano whose dam Gee Oh was successful four times up to 2200 metres for Rogerson.
The pedigree page features the G1 New Zealand Oaks winner Tapildo and the G2 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Japonisme.