"I spoke to Debbie and we decided to have a go, so I rang John Galvin and said I wanted a 10 per cent share," Walters recalled.
The next biggest shareholder was a person from Australia who had 8 per cent.
Trevor Walters was still in Brisbane when contacted on Tuesday and still getting over the emotions of having raced one of the best racetrack performers New Zealand has produced in recent years and then to see her sold off as a future broodmare.
"It was a great day at Doomben last Saturday and we were all proud of how she performed in finishing fifth," he said.
"She didn't let us down at all."
There were many who thought Melody Belle would have made more than A$2.6 million when put up for auction at the Queensland broodmare sale but Trevor Walters said they were "absolutely rapt with the price."
"It was a bit of a rollercoaster day and it felt like a long time before someone started bidding on her. But then it started to roll and it was good that there were two parties bidding," Walters said.
He added that New Zealand's auctioneer Steve Davis was in charge of proceedings and went his hardest to extract every last dollar he could out of the bidders.
The mare was finally knocked down to the Victorian-based breeding and racing operation Yulong Investment, which out-bid an online Japanese buyer.
There were several other Fortuna Melody Belle Syndicate members there to witness Melody Belle's sale and Walters said they got to have a big group photograph with the mare post her sale ring appearance.
"She was the true professional," Walters said.
"When she was parading in the ring she never flinched and afterwards she just stood there for the group photo and allowed everyone to give her a hug and say their last goodbyes.
"They really put it on for us and we had a glass of champagne to celebrate so it was a great experience and one we will never forget."
Walters said that it was the right time to bring down the curtain on Melody Belle's racing career.
"She gave us 4-1/2 years of racing thrills and raced at Group 1 level for a long time and she had been very competitive all the way through," he said.
"She is now retired as a very happy horse and totally sound, which is a great thing and we are all good with it."
Melody Belle will now be mated in the spring by Yulong Investment's flagship stallion Written Tycoon, who stands at a service fee of A$165,000.
It means that for the foreseeable future Melody Belle will be based in Victoria, the state in which she won her only Australian Group 1, in the A$1million Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington in November 2019.
New Zealand jockey Opie Boson, who rode Melody Belle in 16 of her 41 starts, rates that win as probably her best and Trevor Walters got to lead the mare back to the winner's stall that day, an experience he regards as one of the proudest moments in his life.
Australian races beckon The Cossack
There is a chance Hawke's Bay's star jumper The Cossack could tackle Australia's biggest hurdle and steeplechase races later this year.
The seven-year-old Mastercraftsman gelding, prepared by the Hastings partnership of Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal, brought up his fourth hurdle victory from nine starts when taking out last Saturday's $50,000 Fairview Motors Waikato Hurdle (3200m) at Te Rapa.
It was the horse's first jumping race since he took out the Great Northern (4190m) at Ellerslie in October last year and he went into it on a very limited preparation, dead-heating for first at a Waverley Point-to-Point jumping trial and then finishing third over 1950m on the flat at Rotorua on April 28.
Hastings-born jumps jockey Aaron Kuru, who is now based in Melbourne, made a fleeting trip back to New Zealand to partner The Cossack last Saturday and produced another masterful display in getting the horse home first, saving every inch of ground in the running.
Despite being shuffled back to the rear group with 800m to run, Kuru didn't panic as he pierced between runners to have The Cossack in a challenging position at the top of the home straight.
Race favourite Bak Da Master had the lead and looked to be travelling as well as The Cossack entering the final 300m but he bungled the last fence which allowed the latter to scoot clear for a 2-1/4 length victory.
The Cossack carried 66.5kg last Saturday and his connections are concerned the horse could now rise too quickly in the weights if he remains racing in New Zealand this winter.
Paul Nelson, who is also one of the part-owners in the horse, said there is a chance he may head across the Tasman for both the A$250,000 Australian Grand National Hurdle (4200m) at Sandown on August 1 and the A$350,000 Australian Grand National Steeplechase (4500m) at Ballarat on August 22.
"We won't be making any decisions at this stage but we are considering making the trip over there," Nelson said.
"If he went he would probably run in both races," he added.
By dead-heating with It's A Wonder in the Waverley Point-to-Point jumping trial The Cossack gained his steeplechasing ticket, meaning he wouldn't need to qualify over the bigger fences if he went to Australia.
Nelson races The Cossack in partnership with three other Hawke's Bay people, Peter Grieve and his son Doug and their close friend John Frizzell. All but Doug were on course at Te Rapa last Saturday to celebrate the win.
Black type success for Hercock
Hawke's Bay jockey Kate Hercock posted her first black type success since making a comeback to race-riding when getting Belle Plaisir home for a decisive win in last Saturday's Listed $50,000 Rangitikei Gold Cup at Awapuni.
Hercock, 42, has been a highly successful jockey in the past but has concentrated on training thoroughbreds in more recent years. But last December she decided to make a return to race-riding after an eight-year break, getting her weight down from 60kg to 53.5kg.
She amassed 237 New Zealand wins in the eight years between 2002 and 2010 and then had a two-year stint in Macau, where she racked up a further 20 wins.
Last Saturday's victory on Belle Plaisir was Hercock's fifth since her return and her first black type victory in this country for more than a decade.
Her four previous black type victories here included the Listed $100,000 Opunake Cup at New Plymouth in July 2009 aboard Pindy.
Back then Hercock was also the regular rider of the speedster Richard Beymer, who she rode to win five races including the Listed $45,000 Timpson Family Trust Sprint (1200m) at Te Rapa and Listed $60,000 Counties Bowl (1100m) at Pukekohe.
She recorded her first win since her comeback aboard Sunlit Lane in a maiden 1400m race at New Plymouth on March 21.
At that time she said she was glad to finally salute the judge again and was also pleased that it was aboard a horse trained by Woodville's Shane Brown, who has been one of her great supporters since her comeback.
Another good supporter has been Belle Plaisir's Awapuni trainer Lucy Tanner, who said before last Saturday's race that only certain jockeys suit the Proisir mare and Hercock is one of them.
"She is a mare that has got her only little quirks and has to be ridden a certain way and Katie knows her well," Tanner said.
Hercock had ridden Belle Plaisir to victory at her previous start, in a Rating 74 event over 1550m at Awapuni on April 25.
Hercock rode the perfect race on Belle Plaisir in last Saturday's 1600m event, settling the horse fifth against the inside rail in the early stages before angling out and into the clear rounding the home turn.
Race favourite Quiz Kid had set the pace and still looked in command as the field swung into the home straight but Belle Plaisir quickly joined him in front and the two settled down to fight out the finish, with the latter surging clear in the final stages to win by 1-1/4 lengths.
