Champion New Zealand race mare Melody Belle will move to the state of her greatest triumph after being bought for A$2.6 million at a broodmare sale on the Gold Coast yesterday.
But that was not without a fight from her original yearling purchaser David Ellis, the boss of Te Akau Racing, who bid up to A$2m for the 14-time Group 1 winner.
Ultimately he fell short as Victorian-based breeding and racing operation Yulong Investment beat out an online Japanese bidder to become the new owners of the mare.
Melody Belle, who finished her career last Saturday with a brave fifth in the Doomben Cup, was sold at the Magic Million broodmare sale because she was owned by a large syndicate — a difficult ownership structure in which to make crucial breeding decisions.
Pre-sale predictions of between A$2m and A$3.2m proved correct after Ellis opened the bidding at A$1m and stayed in the fight until A$2m.