More than three months after starting her career with a pair of promising summer placings, Pencarrow filly Biding My Time (NZ) (Circus Maximus) made a bold return to racing in the $25,000 Trackside.co.nz 1200 at Ellerslie on Monday.

The David Greene-trained three-year-old made her debut with a second at Taupo on December 28, then filled the same placing again at Te Rapa on January 16.

Greene put Biding My Time aside after those two races and then brought her back on Monday, 101 days after her last appearance. She was sent out as a $2.30 favourite with top jockey Michael McNab in the saddle, and she duly delivered.

Biding My Time jumped from gate 11 in a field of 13, and McNab pushed forward to take the lead after the first 200 metres of the race. She got across to the rail and led the field around the side of the track, then produced a strong kick after turning for home.

Challengers lined up to try to reel her in, but Biding My Time never looked in any danger of defeat. She went on to win by a length and a half and clocked 1:11.82.

Biding My Time has now had three starts for a win and two second placings, earning $21,035 in stakes. She was bred by Pencarrow Thoroughbreds Ltd and is raced by Sir Peter Vela.

Biding My Time comes from the first New Zealand crop of Windsor Park Stud’s Circus Maximus, a Galileo stallion who proved his class with Group One triumphs in the Royal Ascot St James’s Palace Stakes (1600m), Royal Ascot Queen Anne Stakes (1600m) and Longchamp’s Prix Du Moulin (1600m).

Circus Maximus has sired 10 winners so far from his first New Zealand-bred crop, with three stakes winners headed by Group One New Zealand Derby (2400m) hero Road To Paris (NZ). That made Circus Maximus the first stallion in a decade to produce a New Zealand Derby winner from his first crop.

Biding My Time is the first winner out of Biddable (NZ) (Exceed And Excel), who herself raced 15 times in the Pencarrow colours for three wins and seven placings.

Biddable is a daughter of the New Zealand Derby placegetter Uberalles (NZ) (Giant’s Causeway), while the dam of Uberalles is the great Ethereal (NZ) (Rhythm), winner of the Group One Melbourne Cup (2400m), Caulfield Cup (2400m), Tancred Stakes (2400m) and Queensland Oaks (2400m).

Uberalles is a half-sister to the stakes winner Seraphim (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle) and the stakes-placed Imperium (NZ) (Encosta De Lago) and Duquesa (NZ) (Encosta De Lago), while the unraced Sopra Tutto (NZ) (Van Nistelrooy) is dam of Group One performers Supera (NZ) (Savabeel) and Eleonora (NZ) (Makfi).

After foaling Biding My Time in 2022, Biddable went on to produce Blithely (NZ) (Vadamos), who is an unraced two-year-old filly, while a colt by Ardrossan was born last spring.