Melody Belle Wins Epic Bonecrusher Battle

The Informant reports:

One
race after combining to win the Sistema Stakes with Yourdeel, the
unbeatable Jamie Richards-Opie Bosson duo completed a Group One double
when Melody Belle upstaged Danzdanzdance at the end of an epic battle in
the Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes.

The
weather might not have played its part on Ellerslie's big day, but none
of that mattered as the two mighty mares went to war with 300 metres to
run in the weight-for-age feature. Melody Belle might have been the
favourite with punters and the racing public, but Danzdanzdance was up
for the challenge and gave no quarter.

But
even when Melody Belle was narrowly headed she would not be denied,
lifting for a final effort that got her home by a neck to take her Group
One tally to six. Five of those elite wins have been this season,
beginning with the Tarzino Trophy and Windsor Park Plate at Hasting in
the spring and added to in February by the BDC Group Sprint at Te Rapa
and Haunui Farm Group One Classic at Otaki.

That
sequence placed Melody Belle equal on Group One tallies in a single
season with dual Horse of the Year Seachange, who won four Group One
races in the 2007-08 season, and today's victory put her in hallowed
company as she lodged a serious claim for her own Horse of the Year
title.

The
win was also a milestone for the potent Te Akau operation, with Melody
Belle's Group One tally one more than Darci Brahma's five Group Ones,
while this was also the first time a Te Akau trainer had landed a Group
One double.

A
special record belonged to Bosson, having equalled Lance O'Sullivan's
record of 62 New Zealand Group Ones when he took the Sistema Stakes on
Yourdeel and now he stands alone with 63.

“I
tucked her in to get a bit of cover because she was pulling a bit hard
early and she relaxed once I did that,” he said of the early stages of
Melody Belle's first middle-distance test.

“I
slowly eased myself away from the inside and when I saw Vin De Dance
coming off the bit across the top I thought I'd get out underneath him,
so it worked out quite well.

“I
saw the grey head (of Danzdanzdance) come up beside me and thought
we're in for a fight here. I thought she might have had me, but my
little mare, she just doesn't know when to lie down.”

The
Bonecrusher Stakes was added to Melody Belle's big season partly to
gauge her spring prospects, and Richards was left believing that he has
every right to consider a tilt at the Cox Plate.

“She
will have a nice break and will be back in on the 1st of May. We will
try to take the same route as we did last spring but hopefully we might
go to Melbourne for a bit of a look around as well.

“It
(the Cox Plate) has got to be the target as hopefully the mare of the
world (Winx) might be retired by then which would make things easier.”

Danzdanzdance
has more immediate Australian target, the Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill in
two weeks' time followed by a possible clash with Winx in that mare's
anticipated fin al race, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

“That
was massive,” said the grey's co-trainer Chris Gibbs. “There's no
denying Melody Belle, she's a wonderful mare, but we have to be happy
with our mare ahead of Sydney.”

The
connections of Rondinella were hopeful at best that their rising star
would manage the conditions and could only be happy with her effort to
take third place two and a half lengths behind Danzdanzdance.

Best
of the males was veteran Authentic Paddy in fourth, followed home by
Vin De Dance and last year's winner Saint Emilion. On The Rocks was well
down the track, failing to handle the conditions and dipping so badly
when attempting to improve with 600 metres to run that his rider Jake
Bayliss lost his inside iron and took another 200 metres to regain it.

Back