Brilliant four-year-old Melody Belle, who hails from the same family as Cheveley Stud’s exciting young stallion Wylie Hall, looks on track for a bright season.
This season, the Jamie Richards-trained Melody Belle has won the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa before taking out a Group One double at Hastings with victories in the Tarzino Trophy (1400m) and Windsor Park Plate (1600m).

Connections have big plans for the daughter of Commands, whose fifth dam Belle Time also ranks as the fourth dam of multiple G1 winner Wylie Hall.
The first target for Melody Belle is the Gr.1 Sistema Railway (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 1 with Richards indicating the mare would go into the race without a preparatory run beforehand.
“She didn’t lose much with her time in the paddock, so I don’t think she will need a race before the Railway,” he said.
“We will give her another trial at Te Aroha on December 11 to get her ready and then straight into the race.
“After that it will be the Telegraph at Trentham followed by the Group One 1400m at Te Rapa.”
The Gr.1 JR & N Berkett Telegraph (1200m) will be run at Trentham on January 19 with the Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa on February 9.

Wylie Hall’s outstanding sire Redoute’s Choice (Champion Sire in Australia in 2005-2006, 2009-2010 and 2013-2014) was also in the news recently, with his daughter Galaxy Star landing the G1 WATC Railway Stakes at Perth on Saturday. In landing the $1 000 000 Railway, Galaxy Star became her magnificent sire’s 34th individual G1 winner.
Winner of both the G1 SA Derby and G1 President’s Champions Challenge, Wylie Hall’s first crop, who race this season, made up to R600 000 at the 2018 National Two Year Old Sale.