A sparingly raced and powerhouse five-year-old returns to the track at Monday’s Coffs Harbour meeting, taking the first step on a potential Country Championship pathway.

Al Ash Lad, a gelded son of Group 1 Australian Guineas winner Al Maher in the Matt Dunn stable on the far north coast, hasn’t always stuck to the script in his 15 starts so far.

But ahead of his first run since an all-the-way Class 2 Highway win at Rosehill in late September, he looks primed to burst back in a competitive Class 3 Handicap over the flying 1000m.

Always a precocious and talented sprinter, Al Ash Lad took a while to hit his straps. Early setbacks contributed to him seemingly finding ways to get beaten as a three- and four-year-old, placed in five of his first eight starts, before the breakthrough win finally came in a country maiden at Murwillumbah last June.

And as is so often the case, the winning switch was flicked. Soon after he easily beat a class field over a middle distance before a brave and fighting all-the-way win in a Class 2 Highway at Rosehill in late September.

Connections felt the gelding had earned a spell, certainly with bigger targets on the radar in early 2024.

Two solid trials over the past few weeks would surely have convinced Dunn that Al Ash Lad is ready to pick up where he left off, although the Coffs race will be no walk in the park.

He opened on the second line of betting around $5.50, behind Taree-based early fancy Debussy at $4.60, while talented Pixie Hallow and The Wolf were on the next line at $6.

Connections of Al Ash Lad, though, will be buoyed by the improving weather, with the track expected to reach a Soft 6 or even close to a Soft 5 well into Monday.