NYRA/Susie Raisher
by Sarah Mace
Under a patient ride by Kendrick Carmouche, Treadway Racing Stable’s Melodic (Tale of the Cat) became a stakes winner second out when she kicked off Belmont’s Sunday card by taking the 7-furlong, $150,000 Joseph A. Gimma Stakes for 2-year-old New York-bred fillies.
A determined winner of her 6-furlong debut at Saratoga on September 2 for trainer Leah Gyarmati at odds of 19-1, Melodic garnered much more respect from the wagering public in the short but well-matched Gimma field of five, bet down to 5-2 third choice at post time.
Melodic broke on top from post five, but was shortly taken back into fourth, where she set up shop behind the dueling trio of Surprise Cameo, Super Surprise and Frosty Margarita.
Staying relaxed, but within striking distance along the backstretch run and into the turn as the front three vied through an opening quarter-mile in 23.13 and half in 46.46, Melodic angled out four wide at top of the lane and was asked for more.
Responding with energy, the blaze-faced chestnut filly gained the lead within the final furlong, and kicked clear to a 3-length victory in a final time of 1:25.01. Frosty Margarita, second choice at 2-1, followed in second, followed by Surprise Cameo another 1 3/4 lengths back. Completing the order of finish were favorite Super Surprise and Ben’s Girl. [VIDEO]
Kendrick Carmouche, who had also piloted Melodic to her debut victory, said, “Leah just wanted me to ride her the same way I rode her last time and not rush her. She broke so fast today but I had her nice and relaxed behind horses. Once we got to the quarter-pole, I just let her do her thing. She came home nice and easy. It was a good effort by the filly, Leah, the owners, grooms, hot walkers and everybody.”
Leah Gyarmati added, “It was great. She broke so sharp, I wasn’t expecting that. That worried me a little because I knew there would be a couple of horses that wanted to go but Kendrick did a great job getting her to relax. He kind of had to work to get up in there. She had a great trip.”
Melodic, who has earned $133,800 from her two winning starts, changed hands twice via public auction. Purchased by Off the Hook for $50,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September yearling sale, she was hammered down to Patrice Miller/EQB in April at this year’s OBS spring 2-year-old sale for $150,000. The filly showed promise from the start, but also took a little while to get to the races.
Said Gyarmati, “She had a little shin issue when we first got her out of the sale, so we gave her some time. She’s a beautiful filly and right from the get-go she acted like she was going to be OK. You never know how good, but she had her mind in the game right from the beginning.”
Bred by Mia Gallo in partnership with Dave Stack, Mary Kopley, Sam Palazzole, Bernie Ryan and others, and foaled at Tom and Mia Gallo’s Bluestone Farm in Cambridge, Melodic is the second winner out of Christina’s Melody a winning New York-bred daughter of Unbridled’s Song bred by Mia Gallo and Deborah Petrisak. Her third foal Echluath, a full sister to Melodic, is a five-time winner of nearly $130,000. The mare, who did not have a foal in 2015, was bred to Frost Giant this spring.
