Champion mare Melody Belle (NZ) (Commands) created a piece of New Zealand racing history at Ellerslie on Saturday when she strode to victory in the Gr.1 Bonecrusher NZ Stakes (2000m, or 1 1/4 miles), her fourteenth win at the elite level, to surpass the mighty Sunline (NZ) (Desert Sun) for the most Group One wins in the modern era for a New Zealand-trained galloper.
The 6-year-old daughter of Commands had attracted her share of doubters as to whether she could produce another Group One victory after being beaten at Te Rapa over the same distance in the Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes last month.
Never a truer word has been spoken than the age-old adage that form is temporary and class is permanent as the dual New Zealand Horse of The Year gave her seven rivals, including runner-up and stablemate Avantage (Fastnet Rock), a galloping lesson as she stormed home for rider Troy Harris to win going away by a length and spark some emotional scenes in the Ellerslie birdcage.
Trainer Jamie Richards was clearly affected by what he had just witnessed as he paid heartfelt tribute to his champion galloper.
“She is such a wonderful mare,” he said. “All of the talk that she wasn't going well enough and all that crap, well she is a champion and champions bounce back.
“It wasn't her fault at Te Rapa and I'm just proud of her and the whole team.
“It was a fantastic win and I'm also just thrilled for Troy, it's just a feelgood story.
“I'm also really proud of Avantage and take nothing away from her today as she went down fighting.”
Richards will now shift his focus with Melody Belle to a final trans-Tasman raid before she is likely to be retired at the end of this campaign.
“She is sound, happy and easy to train and loves going about her business,” he said. “I'm really proud of her and she loves to prove people wrong.”
Bred by Thoroughbred racing and breeding identity Marie Leicester, Melody Belle was a $57,500 purchase by David Ellis CNZM at the 2016 Premier Yearling sale at Karaka from the Haunui Farm draft for owners, the Fortuna Melody Belle syndicate.
Her career record now stands at nineteen wins and seven placings from 38 starts with all bar one of her career wins coming at stakes level including 13 New Zealand Group One victories along with the Gr.1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m, or six furlongs) at Flemington and over $4.24m in total prizemoney.
Melody Belle will continue her farewell tour in Sydney later this month, flying to Sydney next week in preparation for the Gr.1 Tancred Stakes (2400m, or 1 1/2 miles) at Rosehill.
“She is booked to fly on March 25 and she will be able to work that morning and go straight into the Tancred,” Fortuna Syndication's John Galvin said.
“The only reservation would be track conditions. If it was a really heavy track we might not want to race her at 2400m because it is the first time she would have raced at that distance.
“2000m is clearly her pet trip and she is pretty dominant at it from what we have seen.
“She is also nominated for the Queen Elizabeth (Gr.1, 2000m) and the Coolmore Legacy (Gr.1, 1600m), which are both on April 10 at Randwick.”
While looking forward to the Australian leg of her farewell tour, Galvin was left pondering on Monday the significance of his mare's accomplishments, after she brought the curtain down on her New Zealand racing career in the best possible fashion on Saturday.
“There were all sort of emotions on Saturday,” Galvin said. “The fact that it was her 14th Group One win and it was a magnificent occasion on Auckland Cup day at Ellerslie.
“Her previous start had led to a failure when she ran at Te Rapa in the Herbie Dyke (Gr.1, 2000m), through no fault of her own, so there was an extra edge and pressure there.
“My main emotion was relief that once again we saw how good she was.
“It was fantastic to be there with the crowd, the weather, and the big group of owners, many of them were there and there was a lot of emotion.”
Galvin was also pleased to see jockey Troy Harris finalize his undefeated record on Melody Belle and continue his enviable strike-rate with Fortuna Syndicated horses.
“He is a lovely rider and rode her perfectly,” Galvin said. “He has had four rides for four wins on her, and that's five Group One rides and five wins for Troy on Fortuna horses. He has ridden for us 14 times in total, for 11 wins. It is a pretty good strike-rate.”
Melody Belle has become the flagbearer for the syndicator, and Galvin said she will be sorely missed when she retires at the end of this campaign.
“She is a flagship race mare for us,” he said. “We did have Tell A Tale who was a Group One winner and top three-year-old. This girl has taken it to another level, so it has been really important for us.
“My wife, Jessica, has got a share in Melody Belle, so that has been particularly important for us as a family, with our young children. She is a favorite amongst the household.”
With Melody Belle raced by a syndicate of 34 people, the glamour mare will be sold at the conclusion of her racing career in the coming months before she heads to the broodmare paddock.
The post ‘She Is A Champion’: Melody Belle’s 14th Group 1 Win Breaks New Zealand Record appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
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