Group Two quinella for O’Reilly

11 February 2014

Champion WS stallion O’Reilly dominated the finish of the Gr.2 Cambridge Stud Sir Tristram Fillies’ Classic at Te Rapa on Saturday. His dashing daughters Hera and Spellbinder were a class above their rivals with the former turning the tables on their last meeting to take the top prize.

A $28,000 purchase for Roger James from the Matamata farm’s 2012 Select Sale line-up, Hera had won the Gr.2 Cambridge Stud Eight Carat Classic on Boxing Day before she was runner-up to Spellbinder in the Listed Karaka 3YO Mile. “I’ll probably put her aside now and look at Brisbane – a race like the Doomben Roses would suit her perfectly,” James said. “An extra three months will really help her.”

Out of the unraced Centaine mare Corsica, Hera is a half-sister to two winners and the family of the dual Group One winner Dandy Andy (Australian Cup, Doomben Cup).

Tivaci’s Movie Night steals the show at Newcastle

A sister to the Gr.1 ATC Flight Stakes (1600m) winner Never Been Kissed, the Waikato Stud-bred and raced Movie Night (NZ) was rewarded for her consistency, breaking her maiden with an all-the-way win over 1400m at Newcastle for trainer Tom Charlton.

9 July 2026

Oilman’s stud stake could change course of NZ breeding

Eighteen months ago, Texas oilman Nelson Bunker Hunt walked through the lush Waikato pasture of Matamata’s Balcarres Stud and announced he wanted some just like it for his own.

Today he has-360 acres about a mile down the road which has been transformed from a dairy farm to one of New Zealand’s leading horse and cattle breeding establishments.