Peter Moody heads the Australian trainers’ list for Group 1 winners and he’s flying in front of the Melbourne premiership with 59 winners ahead of David Hayes (35), Mark Kavanagh (34), Danny O’Brien (34), Lee Freedman (32) and Mick Price (31).

Kavanagh, Price and Freedman all trained winners at Flemington’s Anzac day meeting on Sunday before Moody and stable jockey Luke Nolan weighed in with Good Medicine in the Kokoda Track Hcp down the straight-six.

Good Medicine (5g Specialize – Twigzen Ivy by Valeriga) isn’t in the same league as Moody’s Group 1 stars but horses with his talent and tenacity are the backbone of any stable.  

Good Medicine has also been a reliable money-spinner for Queensland breeders Marshall and Joyce Boyd.  He started racing in the Eastern Downs winning at Dalby and Chinchilla before transferring to Melbourne.  Sunday’s victory at headquarters improved his record to 8 wins from 16 starts and boosted his bank balance to $157,000.

The Boyds stand his sire Specialize at Goodwood Park at Allora alongside USA shuttler St Averil (Saint Ballado), Legal Opinion (Danehill) and Duntroon Digger (Royal Academy).

Specialize was bred in partnership by Swettenham Stud and is bred in the purple being a son of Robert Sangster’s Group 1 champions Bluebird and Special.

Bluebird won the G1 Kings Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot before retiring to stud.  He sired 73 stakes winners but the likes of Danger, Lake Coniston, Dolphin Street, Sports Works and Blues Traveller didn’t boost his branch of the Storm Bird sireline in Australasia.

Colin Hayes maintained Special was the best sprinter to ever emerge from Lindsay Park and he got no argument from anyone who saw her dominate down the straight-six in the VRC Lightning Stakes, Newmarket Hcp and Gadsden Stakes.

Specialize was a brilliant sprinter in his own right winning 5 of his first 10 starts including the Listed June Stakes at Randwick when he clocked 63.57s for 1100 metres.  

The Bluebird factor meant he didn’t command commercial books but owner-breeders can still access him for a $2,200 fee at Goodwood Park.