JAGUARA will have his first start in almost three months when he lines up at Sandown Park on Thursday night.

Trained in Victoria by Kelly and Brett Bravo, the son of Mildean Panther and Flamingo Sands has been sidelined since running fourth at The Meadows on November 28, after which he was found to have injured his hock.

While it was not a career threatening injury, Jaguara was given plenty of time off to ensure the hock healed properly before he was put back into work and he has now been trialling for a few weeks to prepare him for his return to racing.

‘Flash’ has drawn box five in race four this Thursday night in a 1-4 wins heat over the 515m trip.

“He trialled well last week and he pulled up well following the run so it will be interesting to see how he goes first up after such a long time off,” Kelly Bravo said.

“The dogs he is in against are all the same grade as him being a 1-4 wins series, but it is all going to come down to how he begins and whether he can step with them or if he is going to get back in the field and run on.

“The main thing is he is fit and he is sound so the rest is up to him.”

The budding stayer has only had one start over the track and trip at Sandown, finishing fifth from box eight last October. Following that run he stepped up over the 595m trip, running a handy third, with the striking black chaser then recording two handy wins over the middle distance at Bendigo (38.38) and Warrnambool (37.76).

Once again the plan will be to build Flash back up over more ground, however the heat and final series this week offered a good opportunity for him to return to racing in an appropriate grade.

“If he doesn’t do anything this week then we will look at setting him somewhere else over a bit more ground next week,” Bravo said.

“His racing pattern tends to be to drop out early and run home strong but to be honest if he can jump and chase hard right from the get-go then he is probably a 29.50 dog around Sandown Park.

“Hopefully the bit of time off has made him a bit keener to jump and get to the front early – we will find out on Thursday night.”

Also representing Race A Chaser Syndications this Thursday is Megan Keeping which will jump from box six in race 11.

The daughter of Cosmic Rumble and Indigo Gem had no luck at Sandown last Thursday when finding trouble on the first turn, finishing fifth behind the classy Pop The Cork.

“Even though she didn’t run a placing it wasn’t a bad run – she stuck on well,” Bravo said.

“We thought we’d bring her back to Sandown and give her another crack in town this week as there are a lot of nice races at The Meadows on Saturday night so we thought she might get a bit of an easier race.

“I don’t think it is too hard of a race this week, although she is badly boxed so she will need to do everything right at the start.”

A winner of 20 of her 48 starts, Megan will be aiming for her first win at Sandown on Thursday after saluting at The Meadows three runs back.

If she is successful this week, Megan will take her career earnings to over $45,000 for the Race A Chaser Keeping Syndicate.

In more exciting news, Race A Chaser Syndications has Kensa stepping out in a performance trial at Gosford on Thursday afternoon.

The daughter of Spring Gun and Little Bit Fancy is currently being prepared by Michael and Jodie Manuel, with shares to go on sale in the coming weeks.