O’Brien Strikes Again

19 December 2010

Top Melbourne trainer Danny O’Brien has enjoyed an outstanding run of success with WS progeny and Pins On Ice continued that trend for him at Flemington on Saturday. The son of Pins struck over 1400 metres in the hands of apprentice Ben Melham for the third victory of her 13-start career.

By Pins, she was purchased by O’Brien for $190,000 during the Premier Sale at Karaka in 2008. Pins On Ice is a out of the O’Reilly mare Ice Maiden and is a half-sister to the recent Pukekohe winner Icepin who

was competitive against the best of his age group last season with an apt victory in the Gr 3 Waikato Stud 2YO Classic, a runner-up finish in the Karaka Million and a brave fifth in the Gr 1 Diamond Stakes at Ellerslie. He has also placed this term in the Gr 2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas and the Listed Canterbury Stakes.

The Corner with Garry Chittick

It would appear I now have to continue my weekly Corner with the amount of rumblings at the start of our new racing season. I have been around long enough to know we can never please all; my tenure as Chairman of the Racing Board was subjected to as much vitriol as subsequent Boards have had to bear, so what’s different this time, or is it different.

5 August 2026

First foal for Waikato’s Group 1 winner Skew Wiff

Group 1-winning Savabeel mare Skew Wiff (ex Starvoia), known affectionately as ‘Wiffy’, foaled a filly by Super Seth in the early hours of Wednesday, 5 August.