A big day for Katrina and Simon Alexander, and Kelly Myers at Ellerslie on Saturday culminated with talented mare Midnight Scandal (NZ) (Belardo) taking out the Evergreen Bloodstock (1400m).
The trainer-jockey combination won both of the $45,000 open handicap features on the card, with Major Major (NZ) (Pins) winning the Trackside.co.nz (2100m) earlier in the afternoon. In between times, three-year-old filly Acapelago (NZ) (Belardo) finished second in the Sistema (1400m).
“It’s been a really pleasing day,” Katrina Alexander said. “While we didn’t quite come away with a 100 percent win rate for our three runners, they all ran well. The most pleasing part was seeing Major Major and Midnight Scandal both step up into open grade and show that they belong at that level.”
Midnight Scandal rose through the grades last winter with impressive 1400m Rating 65 and Rating 75 wins at Tauranga and Te Rapa in June and August. She had more than six months on the sidelines after her campaign came to an end in October, then resumed with an eye-catching second at big odds in a Rating 75 sprint at Ellerslie on May 25.
Saturday marked a big step up in class, moving into open company and with a rating (77) that was dwarfed by the likes of Spencer (NZ) (Derryn) (98), Imprevu (NZ) (Wrote) (95), Dusty Road (NZ) (Shamexpress) (89), Sterling Express (NZ) (Shamexpress) (86) and Bourbon Empress (NZ) (Proisir) (85). But the Belardo mare rose to the occasion.
Drawn in the second-to-outside gate in a field of 12, Midnight Scandal was pushed forward by Myers and took the lead by the time the field turned out of the back straight. Spencer slid up alongside her and was breathing down her neck until the home turn, when Midnight Scandal produced a powerful kick.
The five-year-old burst clear with 300m to run, and she kept up a strong gallop all the way down the Ellerslie straight. At the finish line, she still had a length up her sleeve over the strong-finishing Grande Gallo (NZ) (Grande Gallo). Imprevu was another long neck away in third, just in front of Meritable (Snitzel) and Little Bit Of Love (NZ) (Time Test).
Midnight Scandal has now had 16 starts for four wins, five placings and $112,525 in stakes for owners Aston Racing Ltd, Justin Wyborn, Scott Gray and Cameron Wilson.
Saturday’s breakthrough performance has put her on a path towards the Listed Team Wealleans Tauranga Classic (1400m) on June 21.
“She’s a very smart mare and always has been,” Alexander said. “There’s a lot of speed in the family. She’s just taken a bit of time to mature and put everything together, and she needs suitable track conditions as well. It was a very good performance today against a strong field.
“Her owners have a select broodmare band that they like to breed from, so they’re obviously keen to try to pick up some black type with this mare. While she’s in form and during a time of year when she races so well, we might as well push on to the Tauranga Classic in a couple of weeks’ time. She was only second-up today after a long spell, so she’ll continue to improve from today’s run. She’s won on a heavy track at Tauranga before, so she should be able to cope with the conditions.”