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Exciting filly Smart Melody is playing a happy tune for several breeding connections with her unbeaten run towards the Thousand Guineas.

The rise and rise of Smart Melody is timely for Twin Hills Stud at Cootamundra in NSW.

Only in its second year of operation, Twin Hills secured Smart Missile this year and is riding his wave of success with the son of Fastnet Rock achieving a strike rate of over 60% winners to runners with his oldest only five.

Smart Missile’s runners this year have included Smart Melody, G2 winner I’ll Have A Bit and stakes horses Special Missile, Smart Elissim, Missile Coda, My Big Boss and Clockwise.

“Smart Missile has had a great run with his progeny,” said Twin Hills’ Olly Tait. “He was given a terrific opportunity early in his career, has been well supported by Gooree Stud throughout and, importantly, has large numbers of horses coming through.

“His 3YOs, which are his third crop, look like an excellent bunch and are probably benefiting from trainers giving them a little more time than was afforded to his first two crops.”

Also enjoying Smart Melody’s rise is breeder/owner Bob Manwaring, who purchased the filly’s dam Sweetest Melody from Gooree Stud for $51,000 at the 2018 Australian Broodmare Sale.

A stakes winning daughter of Encosta de Lago, Sweetest Melody is related to stakes winning juvenile Sir Success and hails from the family of champion 2YO and sire Arazi.

Smart Melody was unraced when Manwaring purchased Sweetest Melody when the mare was in foal to Choisir. She has since produced a colt foal in September.

Manwaring has only four mares but bred and has shares in current stakes winner Grande Rosso and G1 winning 2YO Capital Gain.

Manwaring is sending Sweetest Melody to Merchant Navy this spring.