Tributes

They say the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man. From the moment Savabeel entered our gates in 2005, we knew exactly what that meant. Crowned New Zealand’s Champion Sire on ten occasions, the son of Zabeel and a grandson of Sir Tristram was inducted into the NZ Racing Hall of Fame in 2025, joining the legends who made him. He didn’t just carry a great bloodline. He extended it, deepened it, made it sing. All good things come to an end, they say. But not this one. Savabeel lives on in every stride of every son and daughter he left behind, threaded through pedigrees that will carry his brilliance long into the future. You can’t put a full stop on that kind of legacy. So here’s to you, Sav: the sire who set the standard, held it and handed it on. Rest easy, old friend.

Along with his own sire, O’Reilly, the most loved horse ever bred at WS. Uniquely, he was foaled, reared and sold as a yearling: but bought back by WS both to race and stand at stud, retiring in 2015. Sacred Falls was dominant on the track; defeating Pierro in 2014 he became the first horse in 50 years to win back-to-back Doncasters. His Hawke’s Bay Guineas win was unbelievable: losing ten lengths at the barrier, he still beat the best three-year-olds. Sacred Falls had all the attributes: superior ability, good looks, gentlemanly manners, high fertility and a nature that endeared him to everyone. He was special in so many ways to everyone in the extended WS family. His heartfelt and tragic loss at such a young age has been accompanied by a flood of Tower Road tears.

The king of consistency, Pins averages eight stakes winners per season and has sired 89 individual stakes winners. Pins has twice won the Centaine Award for the leading New Zealand-based sire based on global progeny earnings, and his record of stakes winners-to-runners places him in the top seven stallions of Australasia. Pins has also been crowned champion sire in Hong Kong twice following the Group 1 success of his sons Aerovelocity and Ambitious Dragon.

Pins’s nine individual Group 1 winners include Madison County, El Segundo, Aerovelocity, Ambitious Dragon, Katie Lee, Legs, Econsul, Porotene Gem and A Touch of Ruby.

A potent broodmare sire, daughters of Pins have produced 67 Stakes winners including Group 1 winners I Wish I Win, Savvy Coup, Brambles, Stratum Star and D B Pin.

O’Reilly was a real Kiwi legend. Not only has he sired 96 stakes winners to date, but he was a dominant broodmare sire and his daughters have produced 29 Group 1 winners including Mo’unga, Embellish, Provocative, Jon Snow, Sacred Star, Savaria, Chenille, Steps in Time, Diademe, Costume, Daffodil, The Pooka, I Do, Hucklebuck and Irish Fling.

O’Reilly has sired 15 individual Group 1 winners including Sacred Capital, Brutal, Grunt, Sacred Falls, Silent Achiever, Alamosa, Shamrocker, Final Destination, Maco O’Reilly, The Jewel, Guyno, Swick, Master O’Reilly, O’Marilyn and Shamexpress.

A phenomenal sire and broodmare sire, Centaine was Waikato Stud’s foundation stallion and has been highly influential in producing some of the most prolific broodmares in Australasia.

A true breed-shaping sire, Centaine’s daughters have produced 121 stakes winners, including the likes of Mongolian Khan, Littorio, Alamosa, Jimmy Choux, Giovana, Glamour Puss, Vision and Power, Cent Home and Legs. Centaine was a six-time Champion New Zealand Broodmare Sire, siring a total of 605 winners during his stud career, including 61 stakes winners – 11 of which were Group 1 winners.