Lily glides through Flemington jumpout

Golden Slipper winner Crystal Lily has taken another step towards her racetrack return after the filly had a jumpout at Flemington on Friday.

Crystal Lily has been in work since late May and looked sharp as the rising three-year-old won her 800-metre heat on a slow surface with Harry Hillier in the saddle.

Simon Zahra, who trains the filly in partnership with Mathew Ellerton, said the daughter of Stratum pleased the stable with her first hit-out since April.

“We didn’t ask her to do too much,” Zahra said. “It was her first trial and the track was a bit shifty so we asked Harry not to let her go.

“She did everything well within herself and without too much fuss so her effort was good.”

Zahra said Crystal Lily has thrived since she returned to Flemington and has improved since getting back into to her work following a lay-off.

“She a funny horse,” he said. “She actually enjoys racing and being in work more than she likes being in the spelling paddock.

“She’s done really well since she has come back in. As she gets fitter, she feels better in herself. She likes it in the stable.”

Zahra said Crystal Lily would have a harder trial next Friday in the lead-up to her first run back from a spell in the Listed Quezette Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on August 14.