Melody Belle is having her 39th and last start before being sold at public auction on Tuesday and as great a career as she has had, even the best version of her might have struggled to win tomorrow's 2000m Group 1.
She is up against Cox Plate, All Star Mile and Australian Cup winners as well as stunning last-start Hollindale Stakes winner Zaaki, who smashed Melody Belle and many of tomorrow's starters two weeks ago.
"You don't really expect to come to Queensland and meet a field like this so it makes it a very hard race to win. I think Zaaki will be very, very hard to beat," said Richards.
"But our mare will be better than she was in the Hollindale. She was short going into that and it has brought her on. We have worked on a few things and her track work this week was spot on so she is good as we can get her."
So what is a pass mark tomorrow for the record holder for Group 1 wins by a New Zealand-trained thoroughbred?
"I just want her to run well," says Richards. "If she does that and comes home safe and sound we will be happy because she has nothing left to prove."
Doomben is expected to provide better footing than what Melody Belle raced in two weeks ago.
But at this stage of her life, Melody Belle's most important contest left is the one between broodmare sale bidders on Tuesday morning.
Melody Belle's top five wins
1: A$1 million Empire Rose (1600m, Group 1), Flemington, Nov 2, 2019 — The great mare's only Group 1 victory on Australian soil came against top-class mares and during the famed Melbourne Cup carnival. Not her best Australian performance but the most lucrative.
2: $250,000 Livamol Classic (2040m, Group 1), Hastings, Oct 5, 2019 — Few horses win Group 1 triple crowns and Melody Belle is the only horse to capture the Hawke's Bay treble. Her average winning margin in the three races was 2.3 lengths and it may never be achieved again.
3: $1 million Karaka Million (1200m, listed), Ellerslie, Jan 29, 2017 — Started her on the pathway to greatness and she paid $32.40, beating that year's 1000 Guineas winner Hasahalo.
4: A$250,000 Sires' Produce Stakes (1400m, Group 2), Eagle Farm, May 27, 2017 — Not many New Zealand-trained juveniles win Group 2 races in Australia and for fillies it is almost unheard of. She didn't just win, she beat a subsequent open-grade star and stallion Pierata by five lengths. Aussie group race juvenile form also won't do her any harm through the broodmare sales ring next week.
5: $200,000 BCD Sprint (1400m, Group 1), Te Rapa, Feb 9, 2019 — Three weeks earlier, Melody Belle had finished a woeful 16 of 18 in the Telegraph, the sort of run that raises doubts. But she bounced all the way back with a head win over Bostonian, who went on to win three Group 1 sprints in Australia, and Belle's career was back on track.
