John O'Shea has ushered in a new era in the best way possible, producing a winner with his first runner as head trainer for Darley Australia.

O'Shea only assumed the role on Sunday and two-year-old Alaska marked his first starter for Sheikh Mohammed in the Heading Out Hair & Beauty Handicap at Sandown.

The youngster didn't let him down, sprinting to an all-the-way victory in Wednesday's 1400m race.

"It's fantastic for John O'Shea to win with his first runner for Sheikh Mohammed," Darley's Melbourne foreman David Charles said.

"He couldn't get off to a better start and hopefully we can build on this."

Peter Snowden had been Darley's trainer since 2008 before stepping down at the end of the autumn carnival to start a training partnership in Sydney with his son Paul who had been Darley's Melbourne foreman.

O'Shea was appointed as Snowden's successor and Charles - who has worked for Darley for six years - said the transition had been smooth.

While O'Shea was not on track at Sandown, Charles said the trainer had been upbeat about his winning chances.

"He was down last week and we had a good three days together going through our processes and he was really happy," Charles said.

"He watched this horse do his last bit of work and he was quite confident he would run well."

Alaska ($4.60) scored by a long neck over Duke Of Brunswick with Devon Princess three-quarters of a length away third.

Steven Arnold has enjoyed success in Melbourne for Darley and was delighted to start off on a winning note for O'Shea.

"I'd done a bit of work for Darley with Peter and Paul (Snowden) and they were really good to work with," Arnold said.

"I don't know John that well but I've ridden a little bit of work for him and met him down here a few times and he's a good, positive guy.

"It's good to get a start like that."

Arnold is hoping he can land an even bigger win for O'Shea when he rides Sessions in Saturday's Goodwood in Adelaide - O'Shea's first Group One runner for Darley.

The jockey partnered Sessions in a pleasing jump-out at Flemington last week but will have to deal with a wide barrier in the 1200m feature.

"He had a jump-out on Friday and he was really sharp and explosive," Arnold said.