Gifted Warrior took the first step towards a black-type winter campaign with a first-up victory at Ascot on Friday.

The 3yo son of War Chant (USA) settled three-wide with cover behind Guns Of Navarone and then peeled off heels to score by more than three lengths over 1200m.  He had won on debut at Northam in September and then signed off with a fourth at Belmont.

Gifted Warrior is a half-brother to Perth winners Who's To Blame (Bletchley Park) and Luke's Gold (Fath).  Their dam I'm Gifted (Blackfriars) foaled a Snippetson colt in September.

“We’ve got a high opinion of this horse,” co-trainer Todd Harvey said as Shaun McGruddy brought Gifted Warrior back to scale.  “He’s been slow to mature and went shin-sore three times.  He’s got a good turn of foot and should get a mile in a race like the Belmont Guineas.”

The LR Belmont Guineas (1600m) worth $100,000 will be run on Saturday, June 23.

War Chant will sight more black-type in the next fortnight with his Group 1 winner Silent Sedition.  She was last seen finishing an unlucky third in a blanket finish to the G1 Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill.

Trainer Andrew Nobel took the mare back to his Caulfield base to prepare for another Group 1 assignment in the $1 million Queen of the Turf (1600m) at Randwick on April 14.

WAR CHANT