Outsider wins Million
Melody Belle, a $32 shot, upset the favourites to win the $1 million Karaka Million for two-year-olds at Ellerslie yesterday.
The races shares the title as the country’s richest race along with the New Zealand Derby (for threeyear-olds).
Top rider Opie Bosson got a perfect run with the filly and she shot away from the field at the 300m as the leaders tired.
‘‘I’m stoked,’’ Bosson said afterwards, adding it was worth the effort of getting down to 54.5kg to ride the filly, who is trained by Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards at Matamata.
Hasahalo and Felton Road, who were both among the favourites, finished second and third respectively.
The ingredients were there, the result followed for Melody Belle.
‘‘We got the right draw, we got the right run and we had the right jockey,’’ said Stephen Autridge who co-trains the winner with Jamie Autridge.
From barrier three gun jockey Opie Bosson slotted the Commands filly into the one-one before he peeled around the leaders at the top of the Ellerslie straight and scampered away with the$550,000 first prize.
Hasahalo chased in vain to run second while race favourite Felton Road bowled into third.
The first three home are all owned by large syndicates giving the multitude of owners a thrill they will never forget.
Fortuna principal John Galvin put David Ellis and Jamie Richards to work at last year’s yearling sale and they selected Melody Belle for $57,500 from Haunui Farm who had prepared her for breeder Marie Leicester.
‘‘We bought her under budget and put 28 happy owners into the syndicate,’’ Galvin said.
‘‘This race was always the plan and it came off. ‘‘It was a lovely ride by Opie.’’ The tactic was to use the filly’s handy draw and be on speed and they were implemented to perfection.
‘‘That’s how she raced in her first two runs and you can forget she went around last time when she had no luck,’’ Autridge said.
‘‘She’s a lovely filly and had a good preparation for the race.’’
It was Fortuna’s third crack at the race and ‘‘third time lucky’’.
‘‘We were quietly confident,’’ Galvin said.
The beaten brigade weren’t offering any excuses with Hasahalo finishing one and a-half lengths in arrears.
‘‘Our filly went a top race but the winner was too good,’’ said Stephen McKee trainer of the runner-up.
World class jockey Hugh Bowman drew first blood in front of a big crowd on the popular Karaka Million night.
Sydney-based Bowman brought Ja Ja Binks with a late run to win the opening race for Cambridge trainers Emma-Lee and David Browne.
Bowman was in town to ride unplaced Padraig in the evening’s $1 million dollar feature.
He made it two for the day riding Shocking filly Camino Rocoso for Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman in the Henley Park 1600.
Another Australian Craig Williams gave the visiting jockeys the quinella aboard Charles Road.