O’Reilly Filly Leads Derby Market

20 February 2012

A top-notch daughter of WS stallion O’Reilly today claimed outright favouritism for the Gr 1 New Zealand Derby with an emphatic winning performance at Ellerslie on Saturday. Silent Achiever was untouched to claim the Gr 2 Avondale Guineas and lead the market for the Blue Riband classic.

The filly bided the time toward the back of the field before she quickly made ground wide near the turn. She quickly coasted to the front in the straight and cruised to the line under a hands and heels ride from james McDonald.

“She got there very quickly and probably a bit early, but she stayed on to the line with ease,” Cambridge trainer Roger James said. “I couldn’t be any more pleased with her and she relaxed beautifully and just outstayed them.”

Bred and raced by Kevin Hickman, Silent Achiever has won four of her six starts and at her previous appearance had triumhped in both the Gr 2 Championship Stakes and the Gr 3 Waikato Guineas. She is out of the winning Zabeel mare Winning Spree who is also the dam of Gr 2 perfomrer Anotherchancetaken (No Excuse Needed).

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A sister to the G1 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 …

9 July 2026

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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.