Nine months, six barrier trials and three runs later, two-year-old filly Satin Socks showed she was ready to deliver on her promise at Kembla Grange on Saturday.
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Peter and Paul Snowden had a day out at the track, with three wins in the first five races on the winter card, but Satin Socks would have been the most satisfying.
Satin Socks jumped in the Gimcrack on debut in September, running sixth to Catch Me at Randwick.
A four month break was followed by a third in a 1000m Maiden at Gosford in January, then another five months before returning at Kembla Grange.
There was no denying her this time.
Catch Me went on to win the Group 3 Blue Diamond Preview for fillies, but twice ran 10th in the Prelude then Blue Diamond behind Lyre and 11th of 16 in the Golden Slipper on a heavy track.
The long road took Satin Socks to the winner's stall at the Illawarra Turf Club on Saturday, beating Bjorn Baker's two-year-old filly Turnstyle at her first start, with Advance Party, the Bryce Heys $71 shot running third.
It was a stellar day for the Snowden camp, as My Demetra won the Class 1 (1400m), making it two from two at Kembla Grange, after jumping $1.35, then debutant filly Secretly upstaging the Mark Newnham odds-on favourite Super Pins in a 1200m maiden. The stable had started the day in style at Rosehill, opening the Sydney card with a win when two-year-old gelding showed up Chris Waller's $1.65 favourite Rotator.
Paul Snowden believes Enforcement could be the winter horse to make his mark early on the path to the Golden Rose after a solid win at Rosehill yesterday.
The son of I Am Invincible has benefited from being gelded and is now showing his quality.
"He just wouldn't put in before we gelded him," Snowden told Nine. "He has come back and won two in a row and is the sort of horse that is up to listed level and maybe a little more.
"It is good time of year for him and we would look to get him through to a race like the Rosebud in August. He has really filled out as a horse and we can pick our way. I think there is more in store for him."