Trainer Blake Ryan has learnt all he can about new addition Sonny ($19 on TAB) at home and knew it was now time to send his three-year-old to the races for a valuable fact-finding mission at Kembla Grange on Tuesday.
Ryan has only been training in his own right for a matter of months and had Sonny transferred to him by Zhongli Thoroughbreds shortly after getting his licence.
The son of Dawn Approach was unplaced in three runs last spring under the care of Anthony Warren before arriving in Ryan's care in February.
Sonny is rated a $13 chance on TAB to salute in his first start for a new yard when he contests the Peter Cuddihy Provincial and Country Maiden Plate (1000m) this week.
"It's a good place to kick off," Ryan said.
"He has drawn a bit sticky in barrier 10 but there is a bit of rain around so there might be a few scratchings to make his job easier.
"It will be a learning experience for us.
"He is a bit of an aggressive going horse at home and probably does a bit too much so we were better off going to the races with him.
"We got him in February and he has only had one trial but I thought he trialled alright."
Sonny is one of several horses given to Ryan by Zhongli as the young Hawkesbury trainer prepares to expand his footprint on NSW racing in the coming years.
While Sonny has finished no closer than fifth in his first three runs, you could make a case that he could have won on debut at Canberra when he raced with limited room in the straight. Ryan believes if he can run up to that form Sonny can be a factor in his first start for a new yard.
"I am going off his first run at Canberra," he said. "I thought he was probably a bit stiff and looked like he should have run the first three but then things went a bit pear-shaped after that run.
"He has been coming along okay since he came to us."
Ryan is still trying to work out if Sonny is just an out-and-out sprinter or the gelding can show some versatility.
"It's funny because at home you would say he won't run more than 1000m but in his races he wants to get back and run on and you'd think he'd run 1300m," he said.
"At home he is just a flying machine. I won't be giving Jay (Ford) any instructions. If he flies, he flies and if he is midfield then so be it."
View the final fields with full form & race replays for Kembla Grange here