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Melody Belle, New Zealand’s darling of the turf, will continue her farewell tour in Sydney later this month.
Fresh off her history-making win in the Group 1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie on Saturday, the Jamie Richards-trained mare will fly to Sydney next week in preparation for the G1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) 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 2400 metres because it is the first time she would have raced at that distance.
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Champion mare Melody Belle created a piece of New Zealand racing history at Ellerslie on Saturday when she strode to victory in the Group 1 Bonecrusher NZ Stakes (2000m), her 14th win at the elite level, to surpass the mighty Sunline for the most G1 wins in the modern era for a NZ-trained galloper.
The six-year-old daughter of Commands had attracted her share of doubters as to whether she could produce another G1 victory after being beaten at Te Rapa over the same distance in the Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) 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 NZ Horse of The Year gave her seven rivals, including runner-up and stablemate Avantage, 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.
Melody Belle on track for Trentham feature New Zealand Racing Desk@nzracingnews 3 January, 2021
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Trainer Jamie Richards had plenty of firepower in racing action on the track at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day, but also took the time to stretch the legs of some of his team members being set for upcoming major assignments.
Dual Horse of the Year Melody Belle, exciting three-year-old Need I Say More and Gr.1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby (2400m) prospect Supreme Khan each had a day out in preparation for their respective goals over the next few weeks.
Not seen since her win in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) in October, Melody Belle worked home nicely over 1000m which she covered in 59 seconds, coming her last 600m in 34 seconds.