Regan Bayliss to ride Heroic Valour

The Informant reports:

Regan Bayliss, the younger brother of Matamata-based Australian jockey Jake Bayliss, is set to make his New Zealand debut at Ellerslie on New Year's Day.

In a key booking, the 20-year-old will take the mount on Heroic Valour in the Gr. 1 Sistema Railway, and has also been engaged for Ocean Emperor in the Gr. 2 Rich Hill Mile.

Since arriving in early November Bayliss has proved an immediate hit on the local scene with 12 wins, one of them the Railway favourite Volpe Veloce when she returned from a short let-up at Ellerslie three weeks ago.

Heroic Valour, who shares the second line of Railway betting with 2017 winner Start Wondering, finished just a head behind Volpe Veloce in that race. Although a Group One winner in the Sistema Diamond Stakes at Ellerslie, that was nearly two years ago and Heroic Valour escapes any penalty under the set-weight and penalty conditions.

His 55kg is too low for Te Akau stable jockey Opie Bosson, hence the recruitment of Bayliss, who landed his first Group One success on Redkirk Warrior in the Newmarket Handicap at Flemington last March.

Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards have a strong double hand for the big Ellerslie sprint with last season's champion two-year-old Melody Belle sneaking into the field on 52.5kg. The set weight for a three-year-old filly is 51kg, with a 1.5kg penalty added for her win in the Gr. 1 Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes in April.

Her rider in that race, Michael McNab, has committed to making Melody Belle's weight and reported this morning after partnering the Commands filly in her final serious work that he's feeling comfortable in the countdown to New Year's Day.

Melody Belle was paired with Heroic Valour in an impressive gallop on the Matamata course proper. They were timed over 1000 metres in 1:03.4 and rounded the gallop off with a final 600-metre section in 35.3.