Champion mare Melody Belle’s first foal to hit the track, Lyrics ‘N’ Song, is set to debut at Moonee Valley on Friday, with trainer Mark Walker rating the three-year-old filly as well above the standard for this stage of her career.
Melody Belle, who carried the Fortuna syndicate’s colours to a New Zealand record 14 Group 1 triumphs for former Te Akau trainers Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards, was later purchased by Yulong for $2.6 million on the Gold Coast. Her daughter will now step out in Yulong’s green and white.
Lyrics ‘N’ Song is down to run in the Drummond Gold Plate (1200m) on Friday, and Walker is eager to see how she handles the test under race-day pressure.
“It has come up quite a strong field, there is a fair bit of depth to it, but she has drawn nicely and should acquit herself well,” he said.
“She has jumped out nicely and she has inherited some of mum’s ability, I don’t know how much yet, but I think she is well above average at this stage.”
“We are very grateful that Yulong gave us the first foal to train, and hopefully she is a good broodmare for them.”
Melody Belle also has a yearling filly by Diatonic and a foal filly by I Am Invincible, adding further depth to an already prized pedigree.