INVERELL trainer Wayne Oakenfull had a day of highs and lows at Mallawa on Saturday.

At the bottom end of the scale was race favourite Shut Eye’s disappointing effort in the Mallawa Cup when second-last behind Pahang, but at the high end was lightly-raced mare Ellati’s powerful win in the 1000m Irritek Class 2 Handicap.

Ellati, owned by Tim Moses at Inverell, has now won two-from-two on the Golden Triangle after overcoming difficulty on debut at Moree two weeks ago when winning in slick time.

“That was a lot better win than Moree,” Oakenfull said.

“She beat some horses today that have been thereabouts. She was up in grade at just her second start and on dirt for the first time as well.

“I thought she was very good today, and she does look promising,” he said.

Ellati ($4.60), with Ricky Blewitt riding confidently, stalked leader Western Eagle to the turn before racing clear in the straight to beat Gavin Groth’s La Mia Via ($4.20) by more than half-a-length.

Connie Greig’s Procyon Miss ($4.60) put in an incredible run from a conspicuous last to grab third, two lengths away.

Ricky Blewitt brings Ellati back to scale after winning at Mallawa on Saturday.

“That was very impressive,” Blewitt said.

“I sat outside the leader, about a neck away, and she travelled absolutely beautifully. When we straightened, I gave her a little squeeze and she went straight past them.

“She pricked her ears in the straight and I saw Paul (Zerafa) coming up the inside (on La Mia Via), but my horse came again to win.

“She’s a nice horse going forward and definitely up to better grade than the picnics.

“Today, she went from a maiden into a class 2 race. Some of the horses she beat go all right, and she beat them pretty easily.

“She’s very immature too, and doing a few things wrong, but Wayne will sort it out and have some fun with the horse, I think,” Blewitt said.

On the downside, stablemate Shut Eye, a well-backed $4.20 favourite, disappointed in the Mallawa Cup after the previous Saturday finishing a luckless second at Goondiwindi.

“I came here thinking Shut Eye was my best ride,” Blewitt said.

“He jumped good, got into a lovely spot and travelled nicely. They quickened at the 800m and I was the first horse off the bridle.

“He never travelled from that point on. When we straightened up I put one around his tail, but he found nothing.

“Maybe he was a bit flat from last week, and maybe he can’t carry these weights on these sort of tracks. He was very disappointing,” Blewitt said.