Group Two Winner for Reliable Man

With a classy come-from-behind performance in Saturday's $100,000 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m) at Te Rapa, Karaka graduate Belle du Nord (NZ) (Reliable Man) claimed a valuable Group 2 win to sit alongside her multiple big-race placings.

A $50,000 yearling purchase at Karaka in 2016, Belle du Nord won on debut as a two-year-old and has subsequently placed in the Group 1 Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes (1400m), the Group 1 Levin Classic (1600m) and the Group 3 Auraria Stakes (1800m) in Adelaide.

But Saturday was Belle du Nord's day in the sun. After dropping out to the rear of the classy eight-horse field in the Te Rapa fillies and mares' feature, jockey Vinnie Colgan angled the four-year-old to the outside to make her run.

Contenders lined up across the track in an exciting finish, but Belle du Nord's potent finishing burst carried her to a half-length victory over the defending championLizzie L'Amour(NZ) (Zabeel).

Raced by the Northern Club Racing Syndicate No. 12 (managed by Sir David Williams KNZM, QC), Belle du Nord has now earned $194,224 in prizemoney – more than 3.8 times her purchase price.

"I'm rapt for the owners," said Emma-Lee Browne, who trains in partnership with her husband David. "We had to wait a little while to get her second win, but she's kept stepping up in big races and she's performed in Australia. This is a great result and she's a really valuable broodmare now."

Belle du Nord's dam Bankside Belle has had two foals to race, both of them black-type performers. Fellow Karaka graduateWhat Choux Want(NZ) (Jimmy Choux) won twice and placed in the Group 2 Matamata Breeders' Stakes and Listed Welcome Stakes.

Curraghmore will offer a Jimmy Choux half-brother to Belle du Nord at Karaka 2019, going through the ring as Lot 1019 in Book 2.