The Flight Stakes will come around too soon for Canterbury winner Mergeila, but connections have another Group One on the radar for the superbly bred filly.
A $750,000 purchase for Yulong Investments, Mergeila is by Justify out of former top racemare Invincibella and claimed her first win at just her second start in Wednesday’s Exceedance’s First Yearlings Handicap (1250m).
Charlie Duckworth, representing trainer Chris Waller, said the stable had a healthy opinion of the three-year-old, who would be aimed towards the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) in November.
“Originally, she had a nomination for the Flight Stakes, which is going to come around way too quick now,” Duckworth said.
“But that’s the beauty of the Thousand Guineas being pushed back. I’d imagine Chris will plot a path working our way back from there.
“It’s only a Wednesday win now, but it’s still great to get the job done.”
Hot fav Mergeila wins at Canterbury and it’s the @cwallerracing – @mcacajamez combination with an early double!@aus_turf_club pic.twitter.com/KDtWMhdzkd
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) September 18, 2024
Partnered by James Mcdonald, Mergeila ($1.75 fav) camped behind the leader before shouldering her way into the clear to score by just over a length from the closing Indecisive ($13) with Espinho ($6.50) a similar margin away third.
Her win brought up a race-to-race double for the Waller-McDonald combination, which took out the opening event with another three-year-old filly in Amelita.
She showed a clean pair of heels to lead throughout, although Duckworth said she continued to be a work in progress and was still learning to harness her speed.
“I’d like to see her relax a little bit better,” he said.
“We started her off in Saturday grade and she has had to come back to the midweeks to get the job done. Hopefully now she can get back to where we thought she was.
“The main thing is she has got talent, so we’ll work it out from there.”
Brazilian jockey Joao Moreira made a low-key appearance at Canterbury with three rides but didn’t manage to get on the board.
Moreira will be a regular in Australia throughout the spring and has seven mounts at Caulfield on Saturday, six of them for Waller including Buckaroo in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m).