Course and distance specialist peaking for Tauranga black-type bid
Richard Edmunds - Raceform • June 20th, 2025 10:00 AM • 3 min read
Katrina and Simon Alexander believe the time is right for their up-and-coming mare Midnight Scandal to step into stakes company in Saturday’s Listed Team Wealleans Tauranga Classic.
The five-year-old takes strong course and distance credentials into the $80,000 fillies and mares’ feature. Her four career victories have all come over the 1400m distance of Saturday’s race, while her two previous visits to Tauranga have produced a perfect two-from-two record on Soft5 and Heavy8 tracks.
Midnight Scandal heads into Saturday’s race on the back of a career-best performance, having stepped up into open class with an impressive win at Ellerslie on June 7.
“We certainly believe she’s worthy of the step up to Listed level, and this is her time of year to have a go at it,” Katrina Alexander told RaceForm.
“After that last-start performance at Ellerslie, where she went up from Rating 75 to open company and performed so well, she warrants this opportunity. Her owners (Aston Racing Ltd, Justin Wyborn, Scott Gray and Cameron Wilson) are boutique breeders and have the dam and a few of her other progeny, so we’d love to add a bit of black type to the pedigree page.
“She has a very good record over 1400 metres and is unbeaten in two starts at Tauranga, both of them over that distance. This looks like an ideal race in which to try her out at this level.”
Midnight Scandal has delighted her Te Awamutu trainers through the two weeks since her last-start win at Ellerslie.
“I’m super happy with how she’s come through that run and everything she’s done since then,” Alexander said. “She seems to be thriving with her racing this time in, so it’s the right time to be raising the bar and seeing what she can do in Listed fillies and mares’ company.
“She doesn’t seem to mind what type of footing she gets, as long as she can get her toe into the ground, which will definitely be the case on Saturday. We’re not too worried what happens weather-wise through the rest of the week.
“She’s strung some nice races together this time in, but is probably still on the way up. We’re hoping she’ll be spot on for this weekend, which has been our main target for this stage of her preparation.”
Alexander will wait until after Saturday’s Tauranga Classic before mapping out any future plans for the daughter of Belardo.
“For now we’re concentrating on trying to pick up a bit of black type this weekend, that’s the goal we’re focused on at this stage,” she said. “We’ll decide after that what happens next – whether she freshens up for a couple of weeks, or whether she has another race or two in her during the winter.”
