History Making Day in The Offing for Te Akau

Champion trainer Jamie Richards is hoping he will witness history being made at Te Rapa on Saturday when Melody Belle contests the Gr1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m). New Zealand's darling of the turf equalled Sunline's record of 13 Group 1 wins when victorious in the Thorndon Mile (1600m) at Trentham last start, and she can stand out alone if she takes out Saturday's feature. Richards has been pleased with her progress since that run and he believes she is ideally suited to Saturday's 2000m trip. "I think she has gone the right way," he said. "It was important that we had her forward enough to run well and also handle the travel to Wellington. She hasn't missed a beat since she has been home. She has done some nice work and I am really happy with where she is at for the weekend. I think it is her pet trip now. In all of her track work and all of her races she always runs around the corner and takes a long time to pull up, indicating that she wants to go a bit further." Richards noted, "Her 2000m record is very strong and if she is able to find her Australian form from the spring, where she was so good in a Mackinnon (Gr1, 2000m), that should have her being competitive on Saturday."