SPORTING the colours of Te Akau Racing, Melody Belle equalled Sunline’s record of 13 Group 1 wins for a New Zealand-trained galloper when she prevailed in the Thorndon Mile at Trentham last Saturday.

Swinging into the home straight the field lined out with the race up for grabs. Sinarahma, having overcome a costly missed start, edged ahead as the closest to the rail but Melody Belle drew on the tenacity that has seen her win 18 of 36 starts to overhaul the Darci Brahma mare and defeat her by a nose with the Falkirk gelding Deerfield in third.

The win was Melody Belle’s first run since her third in the 2,000 metre Group 1 MacKinnon Stakes at Flemington in November

“She didn’t win by a big space, but she still got the job done relatively comfortably,”said trainer Jamie Richards. “The good thing is we know she still has some improvement to come with her fitness.

“I can remember Sunline racing and the race she won in Hong Kong (the 2000 Hong Kong Mile defeating Fairy King Prawn) more so than anything else.

“We’ve done the job mainly in New Zealand, but it’s still very good to get up there and equal that and I’m just really proud of her. She’s done such a wonderful job for my career.”