Glamour girl Melody Belle horse of the year
Glamour galloper Melody Belle has added the New Zealand Horse of the Year title to her growing list of achievements.
The Matamata mare was an almost unanimous choice for Horse of the Year, announced at the New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards, in Auckland last night.
Of the 61 votes cast for Horse of the Year, Melody Belle received
59, with one apiece for stablemate Te Akau Shark and Bostonian, who was a dual Group I winner in Australia.
Melody Belle was also named Champion Sprinter-Miler for the
2018-19 season and was narrowly beaten by Danzdanzdance in the middle-distance category.
Yourdeel, a stablemate of Melody Belle, was named Champion Two-Year-Old, with Madison County (three-year-old), Glory Days (stayer) and Jackfrost (jumper) taking the other horse categories.
Opie Bosson, who won six Group I races, headed off premiership winner Lisa Allpress by four votes in a tight battle for Champion Jockey. It was a fifth win for Bosson and came 21 years after his first.
Champion trainer Murray Baker received the prestigious Contribution to Racing award. Baker has won more Group I races in Australia than any other New Zealand trainer.
Baker and his training partner Andrew Forsman have won almost 600 races over the past five seasons and set new benchmarks in terms of wins, stake earnings and black-type wins. They have won 105 back type races over that period, including 78 Group races, with 23 at Group I level. The stable’s stake earnings for the period have topped $25 million.
Meanwhile, Wise Men Say added his name to the Ellerslie record books when he took out the iconic Great Northern Steeplechase (6400m) for the second time on Saturday.
The 10-year-old, who won the race in 2017, led throughout with some tearaway tactics from rider Shaun Fannin.
The Yamanin Vital gelding jumped the last neatly and slogged his way home to win by 11 ⁄2 lengths from rank outsider Kings Kite, who charged home to claim second from Crash Bandicoot and race favourite Lacustre.