Successful WS – Danny O’Brien Combination Continues

The combination of Waikato Stud and Victoria trainer Danny O’Brien added a whole new tier to its successful relationship last Saturday.

Since the dual Gr.1 winning relationship forger Glamour Puss in 2004, the Melbourne conditioner and the WS bred and raced product has toasted to black-type success with horses such as Glam Slam, Breezy, Be Delicious, Sparkling Satine and Splashing Out.

The combo is made all the more pre-potent when considering the WS-bred likes of Keano, Vigor, Take The Rap, Crepe De Chine and Escadaire, who have all provided black-type reward for O’Brien’s clients.

On Saturday, the new chapter dawned when Shopaholic – a Pins a daughter of the aforementioned racemare Splashing Out, took out the Gr.3 Vanity Stakes (1410m) at Flemington.

“I was absolutely thrilled with Shopaholic’s win,” said O’Brien. “Not only was it my 100th win at Flemington, but it was the first time that we’d won a stakes race with a daughter of a filly that we had also won a stakes race with. It’s just great to see Splashing Out, who won Caulfield’s Gr. 3 Thoroughbred Club Stakes (1200m) for us, go home and become a successful broodmare at first attempt. I got a real buzz out of it.”

Looking back, the parallels between the two are clear for O’Brien.

“They are both very genuine. They aren’t overly big, but they are tough and they try hard. Importantly, both share plenty of ability and are high class individuals,” he said.

Looking ahead, O’Brien reports that Shopaholic pulled up well and could potentially back up in this weekend’s Gr.2 Angus Armanasco Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield, before making an assault on the Gr.2 Kewney Stakes in March.

With proven black-type association and targets ahead such as this, O’Brien is understandably excited about times ahead.

“I’ve always really enjoyed training for Waikato. We’ve had a lot of fun together and I really look forward to this next generation.”