Kashmir takes first winning step

25 March 2013

She’s bred to be good and at Matamata today Kashmir gave the first indication she can live up to her pedigree. The WS-owned daughter of O’Reilly and the stakes winner and multiple Gr 1 performer Vedodara was an effortless winner for trainer Roger James.

Spelled after two runs in the spring, the three-year-old showed a fine turn of foot from the top of the straight when asked for an effort by rider Opie Bosson. She quickly put paid to her rivals and coasted the post with a length and a-quarter to spare.

Kashmir is a half-sister to the Gr 1 Avondale Gold Cup winner Sharvasti, the dual Gr 3 King’s Plate and Cuddle Stakes winner Bhandara and the Gr 3 Hawke’s Bay Guineas winner Shastri. Gr 1 Easter Handicap runner-up Balmacara is another well-perfofmed member of the family.

Ardrossan’s Group 1-placed darling wins A$300,000 Gr.2 HKJC World Pool Wakeful Stakes

Second and fourth in 1600m Group 1 races in her two previous starts since being purchased privately by OTI Racing and stepping out in Australia under Chris Waller’s racing banner, De Armas (Ardrossan) stepped up in distance at Flemington on Saturday and opened her Australian account in style in the A$300,000 Gr.2 HKJC World Pool Wakeful Stakes (2000m) on Derby Day.

30 October 2026

The Corner with Garry Chittick

The writing of my Corner started many years ago, motivated by an irritation that I felt needed scratching. It was never my intention to make my commentary regular; neither did I intend to reinvent the direction of racing administration. It is both disappointing and ironical that what should be a simple, straightforward business provides a regular need for comment.