New York Lustre will always hold special thoughts for Jamie Melham after scoring a nail-biting win at Sandown.
The Enver Jusufovic-trained New York Lustre provided Melham with her first winner since marrying fellow jockey Ben Melham last month when taking out the John Moule Handicap (1200m) on Saturday.
“It’s so weird to hear you say that, Jamie Melham,” she said after scoring on New York Lustre.
“She was my last winner as Jamie Kah and now my first as Jamie Melham.
“That’s pretty cool.”
Sent out the $1.85 betting site favourite, New York Lustre had to dig deep to register victory by a nose from Shesallshenanigans ($4.60) with Bellinger ($11) a further 1-¾ lengths away third.
Saturday’s victory was New York Lustre’s third win in succession this campaign having scored twice over 1000m, the latest at Flemington on January 11.
Melham indicated she may have got her thinking wrong regarding New York Lustre after the Flemington victory.
“Last time I thought she wanted 1200 metres and would eat it up, but today she wasn’t great at the 1200 and definitely peaked on the line,” Melham said.
“Maybe it was fitness, but I’ll put my hand up, and I was slightly wrong then.
“She reared in the gates, missed the start a touch and just got over-racing in the first 400 (metres), not badly, but it definitely affected her on the line.
“She was going to win by three or four, that was the feeling she gave, but she peaked on her run.”
New York Lustre was scratched from a race at Sandown last Saturday with the intention of heading to the Group 3 Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes (1200m) later on Saturday’s program.
After studying the nominations and likely composition of that field, connections decided on the easier benchmark 90 race instead.
“She commenced the campaign in a benchmark 58 and now she is a two-time city winner and in a benchmark 90,” Jusufovic said.
“(Owner) Mike Howard is quite staunch on placement, placing them in the right company and when the noms came out for the Bellmaine, surprisingly it looked a task at this stage of her career.
“We had the other option, and it proved fruitful today.”
