Galvin: Melody Belle ‘on the edge of history’
Fortuna champion looks to join ‘the mare of the world’ Sunline as New Zealand’s most prolific thoroughbred of all time
For 18 years and 10 months, to the day, the incomparable Sunline (Desert Sun) has sat alone atop the list of New Zealand’s most successful trainees of all time.
With that famous Doncaster Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) win on March 30, 2002 – which Glen Boss still maintains he won aboard Shogun Lodge (Grand Lodge) – Sunline recorded her 12th Group 1 win, toppling the mark of 11 set by Rough Habit (Roughcast) in 1994.
Rough Habit himself had bettered Bonecrusher’s (Pag-Asa) five-year record of nine a year earlier.
The Trevor and Stephen McKee-trained Sunline would go on to take a 13th and final Group 1 win a week after her second Doncaster score, adding a second All-Aged Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) to a record that included two Cox Plates (Gr 1, 2040m), two Coolmore Classics (Gr 1, 1500m) and a Hong Kong Mile (Gr 1, 1600m), as well as two Waikato Draught Sprints (Gr 1, 1400m) – her only two top-flight victories on home soil.
Today, Sunline could be joined as the most prolific New Zealand thoroughbred of all time – at least as far as Group 1 wins is concerned – by Melody Belle (Commands), the Fortuna Thoroughbred Racing flagbearer who will attempt to win her 13th Group 1 in the Thorndon Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) at Trentham.
Unlike Sunline, as well as Rough Habit before her, Melody Belle has achieved most of her success at home. While Sunline won 11 of her 13 Group 1 wins abroad – earning her the moniker “the mare of the world” from Hong Kong racecaller David Raphael – and Rough Habit’s heroics came almost solely across the Tasman with a lone Group 1 win in New Zealand, Melody Belle has won 11 of her 12 Group 1s at home.
She already holds the mantle as the most successful collector of New Zealand Group 1 wins of all-time, with her 11 placing her far ahead of (King) Mufhasa (Pentire) with eight and Seachange (Cape Cross) and Kawi (Savabeel), both on seven.
However, today’s Thorndon Mile could catapult the six-year-old into another realm entirely, something that is not lost on Fortuna’s director and racing manager John Galvin.
“We are standing on the edge of history,” Galvin told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday. “Sunline was an absolutely fantastic racehorse and if we could equal her Group 1 record we would be very proud, very humble, very thankful of the fact we’ve had such a wonderful horse like Melody Belle.
“Horses like this don’t come along very often, we recognise that, particularly when you consider she wasn’t an expensive yearling at $57,500. She’s been an amazing return on investment for her ownership group, that’s for sure.
“It’s just a great thrill from my point of view as syndicate manager – and I know I speak for my ownership group as well – just to be part of it and have those raceday experiences and camaraderie that stems from racing a horse like this and shared ownership.”
Trainer Jamie Richards, who didn’t enter his teens until the months after Sunline won her 13th Group 1, is known as a master of understatement and reservation. One could sense the excitement in his voice, though, when he mused about his charge potentially joining the champion mare, even if his words did not reflect that intrigue.
“We’re trying to equal the great mare’s record, so it’s going to be an interesting day,” he said. “I’m very pleased with her, she’s going well. She’s had a good, solid build-up, I’ve been very pleased with her preparation. She’s had a trial and a couple of exhibition gallops to make sure that she is right up to the mark at a mile first-up.
“She’s going to have to be – there are some good customers in there. I know it’s not a deep race in terms of numbers, but they are never easy to win, these races. She’s got a nice, low draw (1) and she should get a good, soft run.”
Melody Belle has not raced since finishing third to Arcadia Queen (Pierro) in the Mackinnon Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Flemington in early November. While she was a two-time Group 1 winner at 1400 metres in 2019, Richards feels that these days the six-year-old doesn’t have the same speed she once possessed.
“A mile to 2000 metres is her go, she just lacks that little bit of ping that she used to have in her earlier days,” he said. “She’s still very effective though once she gets up in trip. It looks a good race for her at Trentham.”
As of late last night, Melody Belle was a hot favourite at $1.55 ahead of Captain Cook Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Rock On Wood (Redwood) at $3.70. They were the only two horses in single figures among the eight declared runners, with the other two Group 1 winners in the field being the last two winners of the Thorndon Mile – defending champion The Mitigator (Master Of Design) and 2019 victor Shadows Cast (Per Incanto).
“On paper, her favouritism is easy to justify,” said Galvin. “It’s a small field and in terms of ratings she’s ranked well ahead of any of the other runners. But it’s a horse race, anything can happen. We came to Trentham two years ago to run in the Telegraph and she ran the worst race of her career, finishing 15th. It was her only real failure.
“So we acknowledge and recognise it is horseracing, but she goes into the race with her work having been absolutely spot on. Everything has gone to plan and we couldn’t be happier with her preparation.”
There is every chance that this could be the last preparation of Melody Belle’s career with the breeding barn awaiting.
It was reported yesterday that the AUD$5 million All-Star Mile (1600m) at Moonee Valley on March 13 was an unlikely port of call – the mare sat 21st on the leaderboard with less than 1,000 votes in the fan-chosen race last night – and that the aim would instead be to win as many Group 1 races as possible before her swansong in the Doomben Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) in May.
However, Galvin said that no decisions had been made about her career beyond the Herbie Dyke Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Te Rapa in two weeks.
“The definite next step is to go to the Herbie Dyke at Te Rapa on February 13 and then there’s no set plans beyond that,” he said. “There are two or three different pathways we could take. We could continue to race her in New Zealand and then go to Australia, or else go to Australia straight away. No decision will be made on that until after the Herbie Dyke.”
The Thorndon Mile, the only Group 1 on a bumper Trentham card that features the Wellington Cup (Gr 3, 3200m), jumps at 3:40pm (1:40pm ADST).