The Pencarrow Racing galloper Elysium (O’Reilly) gained her second career victory in the Rating 65 $7,000 Morgan Furniture 1200m on yesterday’s 12-race programme at Avondale.

Prepared by Pencarrow’s resident trainers Steven Ramsay and Julia Ritchie, the four-year-old mare was an unlucky fourth fresh up this season when finding trouble at Taupo last month.

With better luck on her side yesterday, the daughter of O’Reilly enjoyed a comfortable run during the race for jockey Samantha Collet and had no trouble finding clear space this time. Elysium was able to pick up the leader in the shadows of the post who had kicked away from the field, landing victory by a long head at the finish.

“It was a pretty good win,” commented Ramsay. “It was a good effort and Samantha Collet gave her a nice ride so we were happy.

“We have only had her for a couple of runs but she seems to quite like the farm life and I thought on her last effort at Taupo, where she got stuck back on the fence and hit the line really well, she wouldn’t have to improve much to be hard to beat.

“She won her first start for Lance Noble and showed a bit of ability for him and on her work at home for us she has shown that she can gallop.

“Like any horse it will be nice to get some black-type with her somewhere but she has to get up in the rating points first so we will just take it one race at a time with her at the moment.”

It was Elysium’s seventh career start having previously won on debut in August last year for owner Peter Vela. She showed potential as a three-year-old last season having contested black-type last spring when trained in Matamata by Lance Noble.

The O’Reilly mare is out of the stakes performed mare Velvet and Satin (Carnegie), a Group 1 placegetter in the NZB One Thousand Guineas and out of Hong Kong Cup winner and Pencarrow’s great producing mare Romanee Conti (Sir Tristram), making her a half-sister to the Caulfield/Melbourne Cup heroine Ethereal (Rhythm). Elysium is a half-sister to the stakes winning two-year-old Bespoke (Pins).

Velvet and Satin foaled a full-brother to Elysium this season and has a yearling filly by Pins that has been retained by the Stud.