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Lofty Star has shown fighting qualities reserved for higher grade horse with his victory in his second race start at Sandown on Wednesday after being headed in the straight by the runner-up and fighting back.

The race, the $50,000 Clanbrooke Racing Plate (1300m), was for maiden gallopers, and trainer Julius Sandhu thought there would be improvement to come from the three-year-old following Wednesday's performance. 

Ridden by Beau Mertens, Lofty Star ($16) defeated the $2.15 favourite D'jumbuk by three-quarters-of-a-length with Twiggy Pop ($5.50) 2-¼ lengths off in third place. 

"I thought they might be a little bit sharp for him," Sandhu said. 

"I said to Beau to give him a dig early and see if you can get to the lead, which he did. He travelled beautifully and got a few cheap sections which helped him. 

"When he let him go the other horse got past him which also happened in trackwork, but he dug in. 

"So, it was a tough win and he pinned the ears back and tried hard. I think he will improve from that, so it's very exciting." 

Lofty Star  had finished sixth over 1400m in a maiden race at Sale last August to open his racing career. 

A son of Zoustar, Lofty Star was purchased for $90,000 from the 2019 Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale. 

Sandhu said the then yearling had not been his and owner Paul Lofitas' first choice. 

"Paul Lofitas and I were together and we were targetting another horse that went four lots earlier," Sandhu said. 

"We missed out on that and this one came in and we liked him. 

"He's here now and happy days." 

Mertens said there was a lot of merit in the performance of Lofty Star who will develop further once he learns fully what racing is all-about. 

"Julius and I spoke about getting him to the front and letting him do his own thing," Mertens said. 

"We think that's the best way to ride him. He gets left a bit flat-footed if you ride him a couple of pairs back, so the aim was to get him to the front and let him roll. 

"The other horse went past him in the straight, but he fought back to beat it." 

Lofty Star is from the Ashkalani (IRE) mare Precious Lass and following Wednesday's win has collected $28,200 for the Lofty Thoroughbred Group from his two race starts.