Horse Racing: Airwave produced a stunning performance which left scorch marks on the Sandown Park turf as she made a winning return to action in the Tripleprint Temple Stakes yesterday.

All the talk on the racecourse in the run-up to the Group Two contest was whether the speedy filly could reproduce the considerable talents she displayed as a juvenile last year.

Taking on her elders for the first time, Airwave drifted markedly in the betting as the runners went to post for the five-furlong dash, touching 3 to 1 before she was returned the 5 to 2 joint-favourite.

Punters who had stepped in for those inflated odds were left cursing when Airwave and rider Dane O'Neill totally missed the start, conceding four lengths to her rivals as they emerged from the stalls.

But the Henry Candy-trained filly then proceeded to turn in an astonishing performance as she regained the lost ground by halfway and then cruised past her rivals for an apparently effortless three-length success over Repertory. Acclamation, the other market leader, finished a further neck away in third.

"I will have a quiet word with Dane once everything has died down but I think we will go for the Golden Jubilee rather than the King's Stand at Ascot.

"It is going to be a harder race but she won't get the Group One penalty which will make a big difference," Candy said.