A pair of emerging horses will look to follow the well-worn path to Sydney after impressive wins at Kembla Grange on Tuesday.
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Team Hawkes' Najmah lived up to her trial form, claiming a dominant victory in the first start of her career.
Contesting a 1000 metre maiden plate, the three-year-old finished almost four lengths ahead of Brett Lazzarini's Gave Me You, the gelding showing plenty of potential in running second.
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With a dominant win at the provincial level, the city grade appears the next step.
While Najmah has followed a smooth path to the races, Hellbenders' journey has been anything but.
The Gary Portelli-trained horse contested his first race since December 2019, the four-year-old gelded after breaking his maiden 11 months ago.
After storming to the front, Hellbenders held on to claim a tight victory, with stable rep James Fathers confident a win in Sydney is not far away.
"He was getting tired in the last 50, but his class just showed how much better he was today," Fathers told Sky Racing.
"He brought that good city-class form today. It's great knowing that whatever he's done today he will improve on significantly."
Hellbenders' win came on a successful Melbourne Cup day for the local trainers.
Gwenda Markwell opened the meet with a winner through emerging filly Point Hope, while Robert and Luke Price's First Courrier closed out the day with victory in the last.
Madison Waters was on board the seven-year-old, her second triumph of the day.
Point Hope showed a liking for the heavy going in taking out a 1600m maiden, Markwell confident she will develop into a talented stayer over time.
Kerry Parker had to wait until later in the day to watch his horses go around, however it was worth the wait, Don Luigi claiming a 1200m maiden.
The two trainers duked it out for victory in the seventh, Markwell's Speed and Style running over the top of Parker's Virgilio to claim a 1200m benchmark 64.
While Virgilio is a seven-year-old approaching retirement, half-brother Don Luigi contested just his third race on Tuesday.
The first two did not go to plan, the gelding finishing last at Moruya and Gosford. He found form on his home track, however, edging John Thompson's Kibosh.
"His first start he lost his irons, so that was no help," Parker said. "At Gosford we were all scratching our heads. I think he eased and the horse just switched off.
"He's a very casual animal. His work and everything suggests he's quite a nice horse, he just had to put it together here today and he's done the job."