Magnapal makes a long awaited return to racing at Caulfield following a stint on the sidelines following surgery.
The Terry and Katrina O’Sullivan-trained stayer will run in the Group Three Bletchingly Stakes on Saturday.
The rising six-year-old last raced when 14th to Mongolian Khan in the Caulfield Cup in October.
Terry O’Sullivan said Magnapal then underwent surgery to remove bone chips in both fetlocks.
“They think it was pretty successful so we’re probably not far from finding out,” O’Sullivan said.
“He seems really good at the moment.”
O’Sullivan said Magnapal enjoyed a good break and had been given a long steady build-up for his return but acknowledged the 1200m-sprint under weight-for-age conditions was likely to be too short.
Magnapal won over 1400m at Sandown first-up last campaign before winning the Heatherlie Handicap (1700m) at Caulfield.
He gained Caulfield Cup exemption by winning the Naturalism Stakes on September 19 before running second in the JRA Cup at Moonee Valley in the lead-up to the Caulfield Cup.
“We’ll go along a similar line to last year,” O’Sullivan said.
“We’ll probably run him in the Peter Lawrence (August 13) and then we might go to the 1700 metre race he won last year.
“But we’re waiting to see how he comes through Saturday and work it out from there.”
There were no late entries for Saturday’s race following the extension of nominations to 10am on Tuesday.
Craig Williams has picked up the ride on Charmed Harmony while The Cleaner will be an acceptor although a decision will be made closer to the day after connections study the field, weather and track conditions.
