Two days before the start of the same sale she was originally sourced from, it was announced that 14-time Group 1 winner Melody Belle will be inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame.
Originally purchased at the 2016 NZB National Yearling Sale by Te Akau, she was sent to trainers Jamie Richards and Stephen Autridge. After her debut Group 1 win in the 2017 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes, a year never passed in her 41-start career that didn’t see her win a top-flight race.
She was voted New Zealand Champion 2YO in 2016-17, Champion Sprinter-Miler in 2018-19 and 2019-20, Champion Middle Distance Horse in 2019-20 and 2020-21 and New Zealand Horse of the Year in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
However, perhaps her finest achievement came in March 2021 when her victory in the G1 New Zealand Stakes saw her surpass Sunline’s record of 13 Group 1 wins.
She first made history in 2019 when she became the first horse to complete the Hawke’s Bay Triple Crown, and a month after rounded off that three-timer in the Livamol Classic she added the G1 Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington.
A daughter of Commands, Melody Belle retired as a six-year-old and having captured her Group 1s at a range of distances, from 1400m to 2040m.
She was purchased by Yulong at the 2021 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale for $2.6 million and now has a Written Tycoon filly foal at foot, and was covered again by the Champion Sire last year.
