O’Reilly

“A true Trans-Tasman product, conceived in Australia from a meeting between one of the first high profile shuttlers and a NZ-bred Golden Slipper winner, O’Reilly lived up to his pedigree by becoming a star of the track and at stud. The dual Gr.1 winner has been a leading sire since the first of his runners reached the track and these days is at the head of a stellar stallion roster at his birthplace, the Chittick family’s Waikato Stud.

WAIKATO Stud’s 526 ha (1300 acres) at Matamata in New Zealand is in the heart of prime horse countryand consists of the main property plus Centaine Farm and Valleyfields (in the Hineura Valley), the latter used as a base for weanlings.

Established more than 40 years ago by Garry Chittick and with Garry and his son Mark at the helm, the stud has bred hundreds of stakes winners since Centaine took up residence there as foundation stallion and in 2008-09 its graduates won nine Gr.1 races (six individual Gr.1 winners), an Australasian record.

One of the stud’s celebrated early products was the Golden Slipper-Gr.1 heroine Courtza (Pompeii Court (USA)-Hunza by Pakistan II (GB)) whose five wins also included the Blue Diamond Stakes-Gr.1 at two and VRC Ascot Vale Stakes-Gr.2 (now Gr.1) the following season. Rated Champion Juvenile in Australasia (2YO Classification), Courtza produced just three foals when she returned to the Waikato paddocks but one of them is the dual Gr.1 winner O’Reilly (Last Tycoon (IRE)), NZ’s Horse of the Year and Champion Sprinter/Miler in 1997 and the subject of this stallion profile.

A multiple Champion Sire in NZ and Dewar Award (Australian and NZ earnings combined) winner in 2007-08 and 2008-09 and inaugural Centaine Award (international earnings) winner in 2008-09, O’Reilly was the leading Australasian sire by Group winners last season with 10 including the Gr.1 winners Alamosa, Swick and MacO’Reilly (2) plus Guyno, Unique Jewellery, Seven Schillings, Betwixt, Kildare and Old Belverdere. His daughters are making their name too with classic winner Daffodil and The Pooka among stakes winners such as Raid, Tootsie, Morgan Dollar and Takeanotherchance. He was leading sire in Hong Kong in the past two seasons.

Conceived in Australia where his dam visited the triple Gr.1 winner Last Tycoon but born in NZ in 1993, O’Reilly, bred by Waikato Stud Holdings, was entered for the 1995 New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sale at Karaka but withdrawn. He raced for Garry Chittick, winning over 1000m on debut on October 26, 1996 and then over 1400m on November 16 before stepping into Gr.1 company at just his third start, winning the Bayer Classic-Gr.1 (1600m) at Levin from High Return and Rebel on November 28. Freshened up, he was back in action on January 18, 1997 and took on NZ’s best sprinters in the WRC Telegraph Handicap-Gr.1 (1200m), remaining unbeaten and relegating Classic Royal and Krispin Klear into the minors. Taken to Australia, he lined up in the VRC Australian Guineas-Gr.1 (1600m) and tasted his first defeat, beaten two lengths into second place by 10/9 favourite Mouawad, a younger brother of Octagonal.

O’Reilly started 11/4 favourite in the VRC Newmarket Handicap-Gr.1 (1200m) at his next start on March 10, but he broke down in running and did not finish in this race won by Ruffles from Catalan Opening, All Our Mob and Mahogany.

Retired to his birthplace on a fee of $10,000, O’Reilly proved extremely popular with breeders and covered 107 mares in his first season (76 living foals) and his book has never dipped below 77 (1999) and reached a high of 232 (175 living foals) in 2007. He covered 163 mares in 2009 ($50,000 plus GST). The NZ Stud Book reports he has left 1138 live foals.

His stock have proved remarkably tough and versatile and 554 of his 693 named foals (80%) have raced and 393 have won (70.9%) for earnings of $56m. His 45 stakes winners (8.1% of runners) include eight Gr.1 winners, the 2008 NZ Champion 3YO Alamosa (dam by Centaine); NZ 1000 Guineas and Levin Classic winner Final Destination (Sound Reason (CAN)); MacO’Reilly (Centaine), NZ Stakes, Waikato International Stakes; Champion NZ 3YO The Jewel (Grosvenor), NZ 1000 Guineas, Waikato International Stakes; Fellowship (Danzalion (USA)), Stewards’ Cup-HKGr.1 and $2.8m in HK; Swick (Crested Wave (USA)), VRC Classic-Gr.1; Gunyo (Centaine), WATC Derby-Gr.1 and Caulfield Cup-Gr.1 hero Master O’Reilly (Bakharoff (USA)), eight wins and $2.96m. He also has the Gr.2 winners Kerry O’Reilly (Grosvenor), Irlanda (Centaine), Joey Massino (Housebuster (USA)) and that horse’s brother Vigor; Rare Insight (Centaine) and Shamrocker (Blues Traveller (IRE)).

Other stakes horses are out of daughters of Grosvenor (a successful cross, as is the cross with Centaine), Carolingian, Shannon, Snippets, Kinjite, Straight Strike (USA), Masterclass (USA), Gulch, Woodman (USA), Citidancer (IRE), Bluebird (IRE), McGinty, Western Symphony, Lord Ballina, Star Way (GB), Kreisler (IRE), Lord Triad, Star of Luskin, Stark South (USA), Kingdom Bay and Sir Tristram (IRE). He also has 37 stakes placed runners.

O’Reilly’s daughters have produced 119 starters from 153 named foals (77.8%) and their 79 winners (66.4%) of $8.4m include nine stakes winners, led by Daffodil (No Excuse Needed (GB)), whose eight wins ($888,807) include the AJC Oaks-Gr.1 (2400m) and the Hawkes Bay Horlicks Challenge-Gr.1 (1600m); The Pooka (Tobougg (IRE)), six wins including NZ 2000 Guineas-Gr.1; the Gr.2 winner Sound Journey (Good Journey); Gr.3 winners Tootsie (Pins), Icepin (Pins) and Listed winners Raid (Pins), Morgan Dollar (Planchet), Takeanotherchance (No Excuse Needed) and Masquerdae (No Excuse Needed).

O’Reilly’s sire Last Tycoon (IRE) (Try My Best-Mill Princess by Mill Reef) was bred at R.C. Strauss’s Kilrush Stud in Ireland and trained in France for his breeder by Robert Collet. He won three of his six starts at two including the Prix d’Arenburg-Gr.3 (1000m, Longchamp) and Prix Pharel (1100m) and as a three-year-old in 1986 he won five of his seven starts including the King’s Stand Stakes-Gr.1 (5f), a short-head from five-year-old Double Schwartz, and York Sprint Championship (now Nunthorpe) Stakes-Gr.1 (5f, beating Green Desert, Double Schwartz) and then proved his versatility by heading to the US where he won the Breeders’ Cup Mile-Gr.1 (8f) at Santa Anita, beating Palace Music. His other wins during the season included the Prix de Saint-Georges-Gr.3 (1000m) and Prix du Gros Chene-Gr.3 (Chantilly, 1000m). He was rated World Champion Sprinter-Miler in 1986 and Champion Sprinter in England, not bad for a horse one journalist described as “bad legged, lightly made colt with neurotic tendencies”!

He stood his first season for Coolmore in Ireland in 1987 on a fee of 35,000 Irish guineas and then became one of the early shuttlers by visiting Arrowfield (then at Jerrys Plains) in 1989 (Danehill first shuttled in 1990). He was an instant success with his first northern runners including St James’s Palace Stakes-Gr.1 winner and English Derby-Gr.1 runner-up Marju (ex Flame of Tara), a 370,000 guinea buy regarded as the best yearling seen at the sales in 1989 and who has subsequently become a leading sire, Juddmonte International winner Ezzoud (a short-lived sire) and smart sprinter Monde Bleu and was Leading European First Crop Sire in 1990 while down south, his first crop daughter Lady Jakeo won the Blue Diamond Stakes-Gr.1 and son Mahogany won the QTC Sires’ Produce-Gr.1 and Castlemaine Stakes and others in that crop included Magic of Money, Just Awesome and in South Africa, Tracy’s Element (a Gr.1 winner at two, who added five more  Gr.1 wins at three and four) and Super Sheila.

His 754 winners from 1184 starers (63.7%) include 76SW (6.4%) and 77SP (6.5%) and his 18 Gr.1 winners are led by Australian Horse of the Year Mahogany (dam by Alydar), winner of the AJC and VRC Derbys, Caulfield Guineas and Lightning Stakes (twice) among 19 wins for $3.36m and also include Tracy’s Element (Ahonoora), Taipan (Chief Singer), Bigstone (Posse), Tycoon Lil (Imposing), Lady Jackeo (Lunchtime), Marju (Artaius), Knowledge (Kings Island), Magic of Money (Kaoru Star) and Ezzoud (Claude).

Last Tycoon’s sire is the Dewhurst Stakes-Gr.1 winner Try My Best (Northern Dancer-Sex Appeal by Buckpasser), a brother to dual classic winner El Gran Senor (English 2000 Guineas, Irish Derby, sire) and has influential broodmare Best in Show as his third dam (also third dam of Redoute’s Choice. This of course makes O’Reilly daughters look very appealing for Redoute’s Choice (and vice versa with daughters of Redoute’s Choice and his close relatives Umatilla, Hurricane Sky and Al Maher). Good Journey (fourth dam Best in Show) has already produced the Gr.2 winner Sound Journey (Best in Show 5fx6f) from a daughter of O’Reilly.

O’Reilly’s maternal line came to NZ more than 100 years ago with the importation of the mare Hebrew Maid (1904), who dropped England-conceived daughter Lovelorn (Melton) in the 1906-07 season. Lovelorn’s sire Melton won the 1885 English Derby by a head from Paradox after winning the Middle Park Stakes the previous year. He also won the St Leger and July Cup. He started his stud career in England and then spent seven years at stud in Italy before returning to stand successfully in Kent. A noted broodmare sire, his daughters included Yours, Miss Mildred and Absurdity, who produced the winners of six classic races.

It is Lovelorn’s branch of this famous family – her descendants include Beau Vite (champion, Cox Plate, twice, Mackinnon Stakes, twice, NZ Derby, St Leger, Auckland Cup), Temeraire (Champagne Stakes), Palestrina (NZ Oaks), Old Bill (Wellington Cup), Motere (Auckland Cup), Peter Jackson (Auckland and Wellington St Legers, Moonee Valley Gold Cup), Gaine Carrington (Caulfield Cup), Wotan (Melbourne Cup) – the last three being produced by Lovelorn’s daughter Left (Martian (GB)), who is also dam of Kriemhild (Siegfried), a sister to Wotan and fifth dam of Courtza.

Courtza’s fourth dam Glamor Girl is by the 1926 English Derby winner Coronach (Hurry On-Wet Kiss by Tredennis) bred by whiskey magnate James Buchanan (1st Baron Woolavington) and presented to NZ in 1940 by his daughter Lady Macdonald-Buchanan. Already the sire of Arc winner Corrida and the Italian Derby winner Niccolo Dell’Arca in Europe, Coronach was a success in NZ before his death in 1949. By the way, Coronach’s 10 wins also included the St James’s Palace Stakes, Eclipse Stakes, St Leger, Coronation Cup, Hardwicke Stakes, and Champagne Stakes and he was runner-up in the 2000 Guineas. Glamour Girl’s winners included Equal Terms (Fair’s Fair), winner of the Wanganui Guineas and CJC Challenge Stakes, while a daughter Avonlea produced the good performer Anne Gable (third dam of Wellington Cup winner Willy Smith).

O’Reilly’s fourth dam Glamin (Instinct (GB)), also remembered as the third dam on NZ Oaks winner Glamour Bay, produced handy performer Chatty Lady (Chatsworth II (GB)) in 1961. Chatty Lady won seven races from 6f-11f and while her winners also included stakes placed Hearts are Trumps, Kapelle Lady (dam of Kapchat and Noble Hero) and Lalos, her best runner was her brilliant daughter Hunza (Pakistan II), who is O’Reilly’s grandam and a foal of in 1970.

By one of the great NZ sires Pakistan (Palestine-Tambara-Nasrullah), a terrific source of speed - his runners included Rajah Sahib, Wood Court Inn, Triton, Tropic Jewel, Zambari, Purple Patch and Zahedi – Hunza only won once in seven starts but was a top class juvenile, beating Love Aloft in the VRC Bloodhorse Breeders’ Plate-Gr.2 (1400m) at two when she was also runner-up in the Reisling Slipper Trial-Gr.3 (to Favourite Girl) and third (of 20) behind Poppy Show in the VRC Talindert Stakes (1000m) on debut. She was also fifth (behind Taj Rossi, New Gleam, Sincere Pride and Zahedi) in the Ascot Vale Stakes-Gr.2 (1200m) first up at three.

Hunza proved outstanding as a broodmare with eight of her 10 foals winning, five of them stakes winners (two Gr.1) and two stakes placed, while a city-winning daughter Benazir (Vice Regal) produced the NZ Gr.1 winner Critic (Centaine) and city-winning daughter Eastern Princess is the grandam of NZ Gr.1 winner Prince Kaapstad (Kaapstad).

Hunza’s Gr.1 winners were the brother and sister Our Pompeii (Adelaide Cup, twice, South Australian Derby among seven wins from 1100m-3200m) and Courtza (1989 Golden Slipper from Paris Opera and Show County; Blue Diamond, both Gr.1, plus Ascot Vale Stakes-Gr.2, from Prince Salieri; Verve Clicquot-Gr.2,

Blue Diamond Prelude-Gr.3), both being by the handy American performer Pompeii Court, by inbred Hollywood Derby-Gr.1 winner Tell (Knight’s Daughter 2mx3f), a son of Round Table and from Port Damascus, by champion Damascus and from Hollywood Oaks winner Paris Pike by Tulyar. Pompeii Court won 13 of his 34 starts from age three to six including the Longacres Mile-Gr.2 at five and he set a mile record at that track in winning an Allowance there as a four year-old.

Hunza’s other stakes winners were the tough Lost Valley (Decies) whose 16 wins (1250m-2060m) included the Canterbury Cup-Gr.3, Fixed Flush (Brigand), whose 15 wins (1200m-1634m) included the Doomben Stakes-Gr.3 and NZ-based sire Hunza Court (Pompeii Court), whose five wins (1400m-1433m) included the Chester Manifold Stakes-LR, Creswick Stakes-LR and VRC Rising Star Stakes-LR.

A stakes-placed daughter Minidece (Decies) produced Listed winner Tiszae (Pompeii Court).

Courtza produced O’Reilly in 1993 and his winning half-sister O’Really (Centaine) in 1996. O’Really is the dam of Listed winner Keano (Pins) and Gr.3 runner-up Be Delicious (Danasinga). Courtza’s final live foal was Kingmaker (Last Tycoon) in 1998.

A minor winner at 1200m and 1300m in Australia, he is at stud in NZ (from 2003).

O’Reilly has sired the winners of about $2m in Australia this season, with the main earner of his 20 winners being Vigor, winner of the Craiglee Stakes-Gr.2 in September and runner-up in the Blamey Stakes-Gr.2 in March and recent VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes-Gr.2 winner Shamrocker, while in NZ the best of his 27 winners of almost $500,000 is Joey Massino, winner of the Avondale Guineas-Gr.2 in December and the Wellington Stakes-Gr.3 in January. The leading sire in Hong Kong in the past two seasons, O’Reilly is currently running third there behind Danehill Dancer and Encosta de Lago, with 11 winners of $2.69m, led by Fellowship, winner of the Stewards’ Cup-HKGr.1 on January 31 and runner-up in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup-HKGr.1 on March 14.

With earnings of $56m and a winners-to-runners ratio of 70%, O’Reilly has made an outstanding contribution to the Australasian breeding industry and this looks set to grow, given the quality mares who have visited him in the past few seasons. He’s had a happy nick with mares by Waikato’s first great sire Centaine, and now O’Reilly daughters are having similar success with the stud’s “new boys” Pins and No Excuse Needed.

Anyone looking for a proven horse, whose yearlings are always in demand (selling to $600,000 at the 2010 Karaka Premier and with other lots making $420,000 (twice), $360,000, $330,000 and $310,000 and selling to Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and NZ) should take a long look at O’Reilly. A handsome horse, a Gr.1 winner whose sire and dam were Gr.1 winners and now a sire of Gr.1 winners and broodmare sire of Gr.1 winners – he’s got nothing left to prove. n