It's an unlikely combination for a pacer paying odds of $126.

No wonder Charlton's Greg Norman sometimes jokingly refers to himself as being the Rodney Dangerfield of harness racing in getting no respect.

The astute trainer, who has called Charton home since mid-2019 following his move from South Australia, was able to silence the knockers at Tabcorp Park Melton on Saturday night by executing a dramatic and shock win with Belladonna Girl in the Group 3 Breeders Crown Graduate Mares Free For All (1720m).

But when it comes to defining the seemingly deceptively well-performed four-year-old mare's $126 triumph, 'shock and 'surprise' were certainly not Norman's words of choice.

"No respect I tell you - it's like Rodney Dangerfield - no respect," he said.

"We do get respect from our fellow competitors, but some in the media in Victoria have never given us much.

"We can tend to be overrated, but that's okay, my owners (the Cormack family) like that. They don't mind the odds.

"They were ridiculous odds, she should never have been at those odds.

"I'm not saying I ever thought we'd win, but coming down the back, I thought 'we're a chance here' because she likes that style of racing, that hard mile racing.

"She ran third at Menangle going 1:49 to The Stunning Nun - she loves that sort of racing because she just keeps running.

"At the top of the straight when Kezza pulled out, I thought 'we're a big chance here' because for her to pull out we've got to be a real chance.

"We fell in in the end, but we got there. There was a pimple in it, but that's all there needs to be."

Adding to Norman's bemusement over her odds, Belladonna Girl, by Hes Watching out of the mare Mixed With A Twist, grabbed a narrow half-head win over a familiar rival in Techy's Angel.

The two mares had clashed six times in races before Saturday night, with Belladonna Girl finishing ahead of her rival, who was the $1.55 favourite, in half of those battles.

"It doesn't make sense, $1.55 for one and $126 for the other. Which one is the better value?" Norman said.

"We're 4-3 up now.

"I think we were 100-1 when we ran fourth in the Breeders Crown Final when we ran fourth last year (behind The Pantheist).

"It was an unlucky fourth too, we drew pretty badly (in 11).

"But whether it's 100-1 or not, it's always good to get a winner.

"I'm pretty sure that's my first 100-1 winner and I'll take it any day of the week."

Norman, who headed to Melton in great form following a victory with Zadaka at Kilmore on Thursday and a win and a second at Shepparton on Friday with Blue Coman and Apieceoflou, is no stranger to long-odds success in big races.

In 2010, Did It Alone won the Sapling Stakes for two-year-old colts and geldings at nearly 30-1, while Adam Cartwright was closer to 50-1 in winning the Group 3 Country Clubs Championship Final in 2016.

And earlier this year, Norman's eight-year-old Zadaka claimed the Ararat Pacing Cup at odds of $54.

Saturday night's boilover was Belladonna Girl's seventh win in 38 starts and another impressive scalp to add to her successes in the Group 2 Southern Cross at Globe Derby in December last year and the Dja Dja Wurrung Pacing Cup on her home track at Charlton in May this year.

Her Group 1 resume includes a fourth in last year's Breeders Crown and a ninth in the Queen of the Pacific behind Amazing Dream late last month.

A $126 winner was an undoubted first too for champion driver Kerryn Manning, who notched a race-to-race double at Melton following her earlier win for top trainer Emma Stewart aboard Sounds Perfect.

She also managed to qualify all five of the eligible horses she drove for this Saturday night's Breeders Crown finals.

Regarding Belladonna Girl being the longest-priced winner of her illustrious career, Manning said: "I would say so - it sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

"It was more than Plymouth Chubb's $1.04 the other day.

"(The Cormack family) have been great supporters of dad for a long time - since I was little.

"They've always sent him a horse or two and when Greg came over they were happy for me to drive Greg's horses.

"I don't know if Greg was, but hopefully he is now," she added with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

"(Greg is) a great bloke, he's always great for a chat and is very down-to-earth and he's very good at what he does."

Belladonna Girl's win has Norman looking ahead to next Saturday night's Group 2 Breeders Crown Four-Year-Old Mares Championship.

"She's been a good horse ... and home-bred. The Cormacks bred her themselves," he said.

"They had the mother and Peter Manning won a few races with her. She was a bit one-paced too, but not quite as quick as Belladonna Girl

"Being home-bred, you get a bit more satisfaction breeding them yourself."

Norman won his lone Group 1 with Tsonga in the 2011 Breeders Crown Final for four-year-old trotters.

READ MORE:

Group 2 win in South Australia highlights two-state double for Norman

Zadaka's shock Ararat Pacing Cup win no surprise to trainer

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