General rules at Seymour

11 November 2014

General James asserted his authority at the second time of asking at Seymour yesterday. The three-year-old had last month finished an unlucky second on debut at Bendigo where his jockey lost his whip when narrowly beaten.

The gelding and rider James Winks made no mistake this time and they produced a strong performance to score over a mile. A WS-bred and sold son of Savabeel, he was a $130,000 Premier Sale purchase last year for trainer Danny O’Brien and Blue Sky Thoroughbreds.

General James, whose brother went to Rogerson Bloodstock for $100,000 earlier this year at Karaka, is out of the unraced O’Reilly mare Splendid. She is a sister to Gr 2 Hong Kong Derby Trial winner Unique Jewellery and the family of the Gr 1 Blue Diamond Stakes winner and sire Nadeem and the Gr 1 HK Stewards’ Cup winner Billion Win.

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.