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By Ray Hickson

On paper there’s a bit against star filly Learning To Fly in her long awaited return at Randwick on Saturday but jockey Chad Schofield says she’s there to make a statement.

Jockey Chad Schofield (Pic: Grant Guy).

A wide barrier, potentially soft track and almost a year off the scene isn’t an ideal set up for any horse but Schofield said Learning To Fly won’t be vulnerable going into the Group 2 $300,000 TAB Light Fingers Stakes (1200m).

It echoes a sentiment from trainer Annabel Neasham after the filly completed an exhibition gallop at Randwick last weekend.

“We’re going there expecting to win and I’m hoping she can get the job done,’’ Schofield said.

“She’s very exciting and I can’t wait to see what she can do.

“She’s feeling fantastic to me, she’s grown and filled out into a beautiful horse now and it’s great to have her back.

“It’s so nice to be going to the races with good horses and I’ll do that (on Saturday) and I’m very excited.”

Schofield said the outside barrier in the Light Fingers could potentially work in Learning To Fly’s favour but regardless he doesn’t see it as a significant factor.

Given the Group 2 is race eight at Randwick, Schofield and Neasham will have plenty of knowledge to work with regarding how the track is playing.

“Come our race it could very well be not the worst place to be from that gate,’’ he said.

“She’s an adaptable filly, she’s raced on the pace and off the pace. We’ll talk to the team and come up with the best strategy for the horse.

“We’ve drawn the widest gate but there’s only 12 runners so it’s not a particularly large field and at least she will have plenty of room.”

Learning To Fly, $4.20 with TAB on Friday, hasn’t raced since she lost Schofield in the Golden Slipper when catching the backwash of interference and she sustained a leg injury that needed time.

“I’ve ridden her since she was a young two-year-old and although we’ve always known how good she is it’s great to see her do so well with her time off given the injury she had,’’ he said.

“She’s as fit and forward as Annabel can get her for a first-up run. She has had a long time off but she’s had two good trials recently and an exhibition gallop.”

Neasham took the long, slow, build up approach to bringing the three-year-old back to the races and that’s why she was a little bullish after last week’s gallop about how she’s come up.

She gave Learning To Fly a soft trial on December 11, it was another five weeks before she had another hitout and she posted successive Warwick Farm trial wins in January.

The Light Fingers is an important race for the filly as Neasham has her eyes on the Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m) in two weeks.

A warm up ahead of her long awaited return next week for star @ANeashamRacing filly Learning To Fly (@SchofieldChad) as she shades stablemate Libertad (@Reganbayliss) in a gallop at Randwick. They ran 1:01.31 for 100m with a 35.29 last 600m. @tabcomau pic.twitter.com/0jQwEbF3SB

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) February 10, 2024

“We got her back into work when she was ready but there was nothing for her but I think it was good to get that base work into her,’’ Neasham said.

“Then we backed off and reset for these two races coming up.

“She can get on her toes a little bit but that’s why I was keen to get her away (last Saturday).

“She was a real professional out there, she was under a double grip and she looked to be extending really well."

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Randwick meeting