Group 1 performer Steno is set to make her presence felt when she makes her WA debut in tomorrow’s The Frank And Frankel Pace (2130m) at Gloucester Park.
Steno has made her way to WA with trainer Cameron Ross and enters tomorrow's event as the best credentialed runner.
The mare won last year's Group 1 APG Gold Bullion 3YO Fillies Final (1609m) at Menangle and was subsequently placed in the Queensland Oaks and New South Wales Breeders Challenge later in the season.
She was last seen on the track in the semi-final of the Breeders Crown at Melton in November.
Ross said he was excited to see his star mare back on track.
"She hasn't raced for a long time and I wasn't in Melbourne for her last start, so it's been a long time since I've seen her race," Ross told The Trots WA.
"We tipped her out straight after the Breeders Crown and had three months off over Christmas.
"She came back into work a few weeks before she came over, so pretty much her whole preparation has been done over here and it's been a good learning curve for her.
"She's handled everything she's done quite well and she seems to cop it and get on with it."
Steno has drawn barrier four for her first-up assignment, with consistent performers I'm Themightylucy and Sovrana drawn inside her in two and three respectively.
Sovrana's trainer Aiden De Campo said he would leave it to late before he decided what to do off the arm.
Blaze Coops, who has won both her starts back from a spell, has drawn barrier six and could be aggressive early in the race.
Ross said while it wouldn't be easy for Steno on Friday, he was confident she had the class to carry her to victory.
"It was all a learning curve for me working out where to place her and Jocelyn (Young) has guided me through that," he said.
"We looked at it and we saw she fitted into this race, which it will be nice to come back in a race where we will see where she's at.
"She is short of match fitness, but I think she's got enough under the belt for the weekend."
The four-year-old will be just Ross' second starter in WA, following on from Machs Legacy last month.
Ross said he hoped Steno could figure prominently in feature races later this year.
"I think she will be super competitive in any races against her own sex," he said.
"I hope she will be up to Free-For-All mares races here.
"We had The Amber Hare run in the Golden Nugget last year and hopefully Steno might be able to measure up to that later this year if she handles everything well."
