Pins Crowned Champion Hong Kong Sire

10 July 2011

Waikato Stud’s superb G1 sire PINS was crowned Hong Kong’s Champion Sire for the 2010/2011 season last night.

Shadowing the 2007/08 & 2008/09 accomplishments of associate sire O’Reilly, Pins picked up the honour with a Hong Kong achievement of 9 winners, who accumulated progeny earnings of over HK$31 million.

Notably spearheading this 9 strong squadron was Pat and Jane Lowry’s homebred champion Ambitious Dragon – a triple G1 winning Pins star who was fittingly honoured on the night as the Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year.

Selected by Bruce Perry in New Zealand, Ambitious Dragon has been a revelation in Hong Kong this term, with feature wins coming in the G1 QEII Cup, the HK-1 Hong Kong Derby and the HK-1 Classic Cup.

Beginning the season with a rating of 57 for trainer Tony Millard, Ambitious Dragon left rivals to it in 7 races – a record equalling count, that saw him finish the season with a rating of 125.

The feat duly saw him claim the title of Most Improve Horse and with the aforementioned wins in mind, also ensured owner Johnson Lam claimed the dues for Champion Middle Distance Horse

Interestingly, Ambitious Dragon was not the only son of Pins who shone on the night.

Smart Giant – a Pins half-brother to the multiple G1 winner Daffodil, played his part too by bringing up win number 73 for John Moore, effectively sealing the title of Hong Kong’s Champion Trainer of 2010/11 for the master conditioner.

By no means limited to Hong Kong, Pins’ black-type class this season has been confirmed with the Australasian-based wins of Katie Lee, Antonio Lombardo, Icepin, Legsman, Lucha Libra, Almodovar, Bespoke and Undisclosed and with the USA Group win by Our Nautique.

All told, Pins’ record of producing topliners is enumerated by 41 stakes winners. His 9 G1 stars comprise: Ambitious Dragon, El Segundo, Katie Lee, Legs, Porotene Gem, Econsul, Waikato, Red Glory and Lim’s Prestige.

Further, the sire’s progeny boast exceptional figures of 67.2% winners-to-runners and 7.5% stakes winner-to-runners. With their global earnings of over $11 million this season, they have ensured Pins’ pole position on The Centaine Award.

Pins stands at Waikato Stud in 2011 for a stud fee of $40,000 plus GST, LFG.

WS-breds shine at the Racing Victoria Off The Track Carnival

Last weekend saw many retired racehorses and their careers compete in various disciplines, and one star who shone brightly was Eden Pearson’s 10-year-old ott horse, Tango. Once racing as Does It (Pins ex Just Be Cos), Tango raced 45 times, winning on five occasions and accumulating prizemoney of $275,550 before retiring in June 2024.

13 September 2026

David Hayes’ Absolute Awakened wins at Sha Tin

With Hong Kong’s new season just two weeks in, it wasn’t long before the progeny of Ardrossan stepped into the winners’ circle and at the second Sha Tin race meeting of the season, it was David Hayes’ Absolute Awakened who won by a length over 1400m.