"We have three weeks to the Railway now and we might have to find her a galloping partner between now and then. If she keeps thriving the way she is we might even look at taking her to the races for an exhibition gallop."
Melody Belle has won two group ones and a group two this season, all without regular rider Opie Bosson as he couldn't make her weight after not riding much over the winter. Bosson is however back and in blinding form as the countdown to the Christmas carnival begins but his successful spring replacement Rusof will retain the Melody Belle ride.
"We couldn't tempt fate now by taking Shafiq off now," says John Galvin, who manages the Fortuna Melody Belle syndicate which race her. "I might be one of the biggest Opie fans in the country and we love what he has done with her in the past but I honestly think Shafiq is as good as any other rider in the country.
"So we are leaving him on and happy to have him there."
Rusof has been a revelation this season and in 54 rides for Richards he has 16 winners and 15 placegetters.
But his stats for Fortuna-owned horses are ridiculous.
"Since May 2 this year Shafiq has ridden nine times for Fortuna on six different horses for seven wins and a second," explains Galvin.
No matter who is riding the Fortuna, their syndicates combination with Te Akau has been staggeringly successful in the last two years. Since the start of the 2016-17 season they have had 53 starters together for 20 wins, with 19 of those starters in black type races for nine wins. Melody Belle is rated a $2.80 chance by the TAB bookies to add to that record in the Sistema-sponsored Railway but she is set to meet some quality opposition.
Not only does Bostonian have high-class Queensland form but he was a brilliant comeback winner at Pukekohe two weeks ago while defending champion Volpe Veloce will drop back in distance for the Railway while the likes of Princess Kereru, Hiflyer (who will go into the race fresh) and the Team Rogerson speed machines Ferrando and Gift Of Power add some real depth to the group one.
As good as Melody Belle was yesterday, Richards is looking forward to tomorrow almost as much when the stable's rave horse Te Akau Shark returns to work.
He has had a good three weeks off after his headline-grabbing Coupland's Mile win at Riccarton and his connections will sit down soon to work out which of their numerous options suits best. "Ideally we want to stick to handicaps rather than weight-for-age but exactly when the weights come out for the Doncaster could decide how hard we look at the new mile race (All Stars Mile) in Melbourne," said Richards.
