Damian Browne was back doing what he does best at Doomben on Wednesday with his first winner since returning from an injury-enforced break.
Browne missed two months of racing with an injury to his knee which doctors advised him to rest after it “blew up” in June.
He has had four other rides since his return to the saddle on August 29 for two seconds and two fourths but found himself back in the winner’s stall aboard $1.60 favourite Zelitist in the Turner Freeman Lawyers Plate (2240m) at Doomben.
“The knee has felt good. I have been easing back into things and taking my time,” said Browne, who has Group One commitments later this spring on Buffering and Hardline.
Zelitist is bred along staying lines being by retired champion sire Zabeel out of a Giant’s Causeway mare and cost $120,000 as a yearling.
The mare made the trip from trainer Kris Lees’s Newcastle stables to Queensland on Tuesday night and was expected to head home after the Doomben race meeting.
Lees is likely to look for more restricted staying races in Queensland for the five-year-old.
Meanwhile, jockey Tim Bell continued to clock up the winners before he leaves for a Singapore stint with a victory on Chica Peeps ($5.50) in the Qld Council Of Unions Hcp (1110m).
“I still haven’t got a definite date for my start in Singapore but it won’t be far away,” Bell said.
