Saint Emilion successful again at Ellerslie

Rugged front-runner Saint Emilion once again showed his penchant for the Ellerslie track when he led all the way to win the Group 3 OMF Stakes (2000m) yesterday.

Under a vigorous ride from Jonathan Riddell, Saint Emilion kicked back after being clearly headed in the home straight to defeat his fast-finishing stablemate Lizzie L’Amour, who took second from Hello It’s Me.

The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained sevenyear-old made it win number 15 from 41 career starts, with six of those victories coming at the venue. Amongst that Ellerslie winning tally is last season’s Gr.1 New Zealand Stakes (2000m) while it was also his second win in this race after victory in 2016.

The win also represented a major form reversal for the Mastercraftsman gelding who had finished last of 13 runners in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) at his last start. ‘‘It was a bit of a head-scratcher at Hastings last time as we just couldn’t put a finger on why he went so badly,’’ Forsman said. ‘‘He certainly perked up today.’’

NZ Racing Desk