In-form jockey Ryan Maloney got plenty of credit when much travelled Alward broke through for his first win in nearly two years at the Gold Coast.

The Chris Waller-trained Alward ($6.50) got upon the fence to beat his stablemate Vaucluse Bay ($3.20) by a nose in the William and Elsie Morgan Open Handicap (1800m).

Alward did his early racing in France before being sold to Australian interests as a possible Cups-type horse.

He showed plenty of promise making it four wins from five starts when he won at Randwick on October 7, 2017.

However, Alward had not won since and had been struggling in Melbourne before Waller elected to send him to his Gold Coast stable.

Waller's Queensland manager Paul Shailer said Alward had been unlucky at his first start in Queensland when unplaced at Doomben two weeks ago.

"He ran into some bad interference in the straight but he still ran on well and it was a good pointer to this," Shailer said.

"Both our horses have run well today but they have probably found the right class in Queensland and will stay here.

"The difference today was a great ride from Ryan (Maloney) who is in very good form."