he highly anticipated reopening of Ellerslie was celebrated in style on Sunday, with Merchant Queen writing her name into the history books as the first to salute in a new era for the iconic venue.
Ellerslie, home to several of New Zealand's most esteemed race days, underwent a major reconstruction to install the new StrathAyr surface over the past 22 months.
The potent combination of Stephen Marsh and Sam Spratt were fresh from a thriller in the Group 1 Telegraph (1200m) with Mercurial on Saturday, and joined forces with Merchant Queen, who was aiming to maintain her unbeaten status.
A daughter of Merchant Navy, the filly entered the winner's circle on debut in August, and went two-from-two when resuming at Arawa Park last month ahead of subsequent next-start winner Aequus. She started a +340 on the local tote in the compact three-year-old contest, with Egyptian Queen heading the market at +230 with top horse racing betting sites.
Spratt hustled the filly out of barrier five with designs on the lead, though they shared pace-making duties with Bevanda down the back straight. Entering the home turn, Merchant Queen left her rivals chasing in the straight, and despite the best efforts of a game Ethereal Star and emerging talent My Annie Belle, the filly charged to victory by 1.5 lengths.
Dylan Johnson represented the Marsh contingent at Ellerslie, and was delighted to see the filly handle the step-up into open three-year-old company.
“It's fantastic, she's a filly that's just worked her way through the grades and it's not easy to go three on the bounce,” he said.
“We thought the draw may have been a bit sticky, but Sam is riding in great form, obviously yesterday as Group One winner and again today. She's probably riding as well as she ever has.
“Today was a real find-out day, to see if she's been in the right sort of class those first two runs but she's beaten a good field today. She had to do a bit of work, so from here we'll get her home but perhaps a race like the Almanzor Trophy (Group 3, 1200m) on Karaka Millions night might hold some appeal.”
Spratt expressed high-praise for the course, which had undergone a series of gallops, jump-outs, and official trials before the green light was given for January 14.
“That was really good, she skipped along really easily and got a nice enough lead to ping off the corner,” she said.
“It's beautiful out there, so smooth and you just cruise around the corner. It's a stunning track.”
Merchant Queen completed the 1200m event in 1.09.51, with a 33.05s last 600m, though the track demonstrated it's fair nature in the following event as two-year-old So Naïve scorched home from back in the field to score.
Auckland Thoroughbred Racing's CEO Paul Wilcox was an emotional figure post-race, understandably relieved to see the track performing to expectation.
“I just feel relieved. It's been four years of hard work, so it's pretty cool to see it happen. I think it's great for Sam Spratt, an Auckland rider to win the first here at Ellerslie on our return as well.”