In tune: Melody Belle settles well at Randwick base
Melody Belle has crossed the Tasman and has settled in well to her Randwick base ahead of her Sydney swansong at Rosehill on Saturday.
“She’s a frequent flyer and a seasoned traveller now,” trainer Jamie Richards told SENTrack.
“She has settled in well at JT’s [John Thompson’s] at Randwick. She seems to have arrived in good shape.”
The daughter of Commands will be tested over 2400m for the first time in her career in the Group 1 Tancred Stakes on Saturday, but that bodes no concerns for Richards, who believes she will thrive over the distance.
“I think she has been looking for it for quite some time, but we just haven’t had the right opportunity to try her at that trip,” he said.
“She got caught out in the spring against the Aussie sprinters in
Sydney, so she clearly needs more ground than that. She is probably not quite good enough at a mile as she gets a bit older to be competitive in a Doncaster (Group 1, 1600m) or a fillies and mares Coolmore (Group 1, 1600m).
“Once you get her up to 2000m and even a mile and a half, as we find ourselves on Saturday, I think it is a really nice opportunity for her.
“I think we have been able to dodge some of the real big guns. It’s a bonus for us that a horse like Verry Elleegant isn’t in there.
“I believe it is going to be no problem for her. We will just ride her quietly, get her relaxed and breathing and give her a chance to build into it from the half-mile onwards.”
Melody Belle finished her New Zealand racing career on a high when
winning the Group 1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie last month and Richards said it was an emotional send-off for many of the Te Akau team when she left their Matamata barn for the last time on Tuesday.
While it will be the last time many of Te Akau’s staff will see the recordsetting mare, Richards is hoping he
will be able to cross the Tasman to watch her race for the final time.
“A few of the staff were sad to see her go, but I haven’t said my goodbyes yet,” he said. “Hopefully we can get this [travel] bubble up and going and we might be able to get to Queensland to watch her race, or maybe even watch her be sold.
“She has done a wonderful job for everybody and feels like she is going on another one of her road trips. Hopefully I will be able to catch up with her again soon.”
Meanwhile, Te Akau stablemate Probabeel’s preparation is starting to ramp up again ahead of her tilt at the Group 1 Coolmore Legacy Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on April 17.
“Probabeel is in good shape,” Richards said. “She is getting a bit more serious in her work this week.
Kerrin [ McEvoy, jockey] rode her in a bit of three-quarter work this morning and was happy.
“She will have a couple of hit-outs later in the week, [today] and Saturday, and she is going to trial at Randwick next Thursday over 1200m. She will then go to the Coolmore on the 17th.”
Richards has his fingers crossed that the improved weather in Sydney remains, indicating Probabeel won’t line up on a heavy surface.
“She wouldn’t be running on heavy ground,” he said. “We promised that to ourselves after the Cox Plate (Group 1, 2040m) and we made a mistake in the All-Star Mile (A$5 million, 1600m) when that track was heavy by the time the race was run. We won’t make the same mistake again.”