Double Strike In Melbourne

Promising three-year-old Builder O’Reilly set up a winning double for WS stallions in Melbourne at the weekend. The son of champion sire O’Reilly posted a runaway success at the Ballarat meeting and his performance was mirrored by the Savabeel gelding Below who in the following event stepped up in grade to impressively maintain his unbeaten record.

A $130,000 Premier Sale buy out of the Matamata nursery’s 2009 draft at Karaka, Builder O’Reilly is trained by Leon Corstens and broke his maiden by four and a-half lengths in the hands of Noel Callow on Saturday when given his first opportunity over 1600 metres. He had recorded a pair of runner-up finishes and a fourth placing from his three previous outings.

Builder O’Reilly is a half-brother to six winners, including the Gr 2 Waikato Gold Cup winner Singing Star and the stakes performers Brave Flyer and Written By A Queen. Their dam is the Crested Wave mare Jelignite Jen who is a half-sister to the Australian black type winner and Group performer Zephyr Art.

Savabeel three-year-old Below was successful on debut at Seymour last month and kept his perfect record at Ballarat with a repeat performance over 1400 metres. He is raced by Lloyd and Nick Williams and prepared at their private Mt Macedon training establishment by Robert Hickmott.

Below is out of the Runyon mare Tawny Run who was a dual stakes winner in South African and was also Gr 1 placed. She is from a highly-successful Australasian family that includes Naturalism (AJC Derby, Rosehill Guineas, Caulfield Stakes, Turnbull Stakes), Star Dancer (Auckland Classic – twice, Futurity Stakes), Crystal Palace (Queensland Oaks) and Zephyr Souba (Ladies’ Mile, Waikato Guineas).