O’Brien Strikes Again

19 December 2010

Top Melbourne trainer Danny O’Brien has enjoyed an outstanding run of success with WS progeny and Pins On Ice continued that trend for him at Flemington on Saturday. The son of Pins struck over 1400 metres in the hands of apprentice Ben Melham for the third victory of her 13-start career.

By Pins, she was purchased by O’Brien for $190,000 during the Premier Sale at Karaka in 2008. Pins On Ice is a out of the O’Reilly mare Ice Maiden and is a half-sister to the recent Pukekohe winner Icepin who

was competitive against the best of his age group last season with an apt victory in the Gr 3 Waikato Stud 2YO Classic, a runner-up finish in the Karaka Million and a brave fifth in the Gr 1 Diamond Stakes at Ellerslie. He has also placed this term in the Gr 2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas and the Listed Canterbury Stakes.

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.