Injury-plagued four-year-old Fraternize bounced back to winning form at Bunbury on Sunday.
The Patronize gelding spent nine months off the racing scene after having a bonechip removed from a knee in March last year and led from start to finish when racing third-up in Sunday’s Amelia Park Handicap (1200m).
He made a promising return to racing when finishing a close second at Ascot on December 30, however, disappointed to finish a distant 11th second-up on January 20.
Co-trainers Dan and Ben Pearce have always held Fraternize in high regard and after rectifying a couple of his issues, expected him to relish a drop in grade at Bunbury.
The brothers weren’t disappointed when the red-hot $2.10 favourite took up proceedings before kicking clear in the straight for in-form apprentice Brodie Kirby who brought up the second leg of a race-to-race winning double.
Eliza’s Dream ($4.50) finished off strongly for second, beaten one length, with Friarandice ($11) a further two lengths away in third place.
The Pearce stable will start impressive debut winner, Dickoletto, at Ascot on Wednesday before turning their attention to Saturday’s $150,000 Magic Millions WA 3YO Trophy (1200m) where their Street Boss three-year-old, Street Fury, is the nominal favourite.