Doomben double for o’reilly

5 December 2015

Whakatoi produced the first winning strike of her career at Doomben yesterday to set up a winning double for the late O’Reilly. The five-year-old followed up a previous placing with success at her middle distance debut.

Trained by John Meagher with his sons Chris and Dan, the WS-bred mare was a $130,000 yearling purchase. She is out of the unraced Encosta de Lago mare De Lago Lady, who is a half-sister to the former champion two-year-old and multiple Group One winner Maroofity.

O’Reilly’s daughter O’Reilly Cyrus, another WS home-bred, later made the perfect start when she won the juvenile sprint on debut. Trained by Liam Birchley, she was a $100,000 purchase at Karaka last year for the Eagle Farm horseman.

O’Reilly Cyrus is out of the Masterclass mare Dancing Mistress, who is the dam of the stakes winner Savour The Moment (Savabeel). It is also the family of the Gr 1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes winner O’Marilyn.

The Corner with Garry Chittick

Another year nearly passed, I could never work it out when my parents would express the view on how the years passed so quickly. When young, one always looked forward to the next happening; it seemed we waited forever. Now I dwell on the past and want it to last forever.

16 December 2025

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