Racing: Group 1 record on hold as Melody Belle stunned in $400,000 Herbie Dyke Stakes at Te Rapa

Royal Performer was victorious. Photo / Trish Dunell

The horse who ruined the Melody Belle party at Te Rapa on Saturday wasn't even supposed to be in the race.

Former Hong Kong galloper Royal Performer stunned punters by bolting away with the $400,000 Herbie Dyke Stakes, New Zealand's richest weight-for-age race, after a beautiful ride from Jonathan Riddell.

The eight-year-old never left the fence and dashed clear halfway down the straight with The Chosen One rocketing home into second ahead of On The Rocks.

But many eyes were cast further back in the field where $1.35 favourite Melody Belle finished second-last in the race where she was looking to become New Zealand's most successful Group 1 galloper.

While she received some buffering in the straight that was only after she wasn't going well enough at the 600m to take off as she usually would have. She had no luck but still raced below her best, with trainer Jamie Richards confirming she had taken no harm from the race.

Although many had hoped for history in the Group 1 the shock winner was still enormously popular as he is the first Group 1 training success for former champion jockey Bob Vance, who co-trains Royal Performer with his wife Jenny.

The Vances also own the eight-year-old and rolled the dice by paying the $9000 late entry fee to put Royal Performer in the Herbie Dyke after he won impressively at Pukekohe last start.

"Even after he won that last race we had no intention of starting him in this race," admits the 61-year-old.

"In track work you would have no idea he was a good horse and when we started racing him here are he was retired from Hong Kong we didn't really know what to expect.

"But after that last win I looked up his record in England, where he raced before he went to Hong Kong, and he was a good horse there and won over 1700m as a three-year-old.

"And his sire Medicean was a top 2000m horse so after reading up on that we thought he would get the 2000m.

"So we rolled the dice and paid the late entry and it has worked out great.

"He is obviously a pretty good horse and I don't think he settled in that well in Hong Kong but he is loving being down here in New Zealand, spending some time in the paddock with a mate.

"So after winning this I suppose we will have to go to the Bonecrusher [Ellerslie March 13] with him next."

The win was also the second upset Group 1 win of the season for Riddell, who battles with his weight worse than most in the jockeys' room, but whose determination can never be doubted.

While the winner was dominant The Chosen One was eyecatching in second in his first start since the Melbourne Cup in November, his performance seeing him rocket up the market to equal-favourite for the A$2 million Sydney Cup on April 10.