Moving Melody becomes Group 3 winner as Joe Doyle gets rhythm right at Riccarton
Moving Melody made victory in the Windsor Park Stud Canterbury Breeders’ Stakes at Riccarton look like a walk in the park when she dictated affairs from the front to capture her first stakes victory.
The 6-year-old Deep Field mare had done most of her racing from Bruce Wallace and Grant Cooksley’s Byerley Park stable before heading south to Terri Rae’s operation at Riccarton.
The consistent mare took to her new surroundings in fine style, winning over 1000m after a brief break before finishing runner-up behind Charmrose last month.
Punters took note of that performance and backed her into a warm $2.40 favourite on Saturday, and she repaid their faith in style.
Jockey Joe Doyle sent his mount straight to the front and set up a muddling speed to suit his purposes as none of his 10 rivals were prepared to take him on.
Travelling trouble-free as she turned for home, Moving Melody kicked clear and cruised to the finish, holding out Move On and Bona Sforza by a length at the winning post.
Rae was delighted to see the mare put valuable black-type on her record after setting that as a major goal.
“She wasn’t meant to lead but no one else wanted to,” Rae said. “Joe [Doyle] summed it up well, took control and set it up to suit himself.
“It is a special win as we have been planning to get black-type with her as she is a mare that definitely deserves it. Her owner is here on-course and I’m sure he has got a real kick out of it.
“We are going to take her home now and see how she comes through the race, but if she pulls up well then the Stewards’ on the last day is also in our sights as she is a good horse on a solid speed, and that is how those type of races are run.”
The Listed Lindauer Stewards Stakes (1200m) is one of the feature events on the last day of the carnival next Saturday.
– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk