The Corner with Garry Chittick
Another year nearly passed, I could never work it out when my parents would express the view on how the years passed so quickly. When young, one always looked forward to the next happening; it seemed we waited forever. Now I dwell on the past and want it to last forever.
I am going to go back in time to reflect on one of the better memories.
1993 we purchased Waikato Stud. The international horse owner Nelson Bunker Hunt, years prior, introduced a cattle breeding program, inseminating Friesian dairy cows with Charolais semen. He owned property in Australia, the cows were calved with the resulting progeny sent over.
The need for a property to collect the cattle and prepare for export resulted in the buying of the dairy farm, which became Waikato Stud.
His Southern Hemisphere racing advisor, Jim Shannon, encouraged him to dual-hemisphere stallions, a pioneering decision.
The property was sold, and like a number at the time, floated as a public company. Like the many others floated at the time, it sank. Which should have been a key indicator, if none survived, why would we.
Our purchase was a going concern – the receivers anxious to wash their hands of horse breeding. Courtza, the winner of the Golden Slipper, was part of the package. She foaled her Last Tycoon colt prior to our taking possession, but he was part of the package.
The late Peter Kelly rang to help me out financially with an offer for the weanling, which was declined. He was entered for the yearling sale with great anticipation. Ironically, I had, in August, travelled to Europe and the USA with Hogan, Walls, and Benjamin seeking a prospective sire – on return, I said to Mark we should retain the colt. Fate intervened when Jim Marks failed the horse whom he was vetting for a local syndicate. The issue was, of course, his opinion; our vets at the time did not agree. However, we all know the likelihood of his opinion remaining confidential was unlikely, so we withdrew him from the sale.
To add value as a sire prospect, we chose to have him trained in Australia. Gerald Ryan believed he had tremendous ability – I suddenly had pre-race offers, very exciting, then, whilst leaving the track, he lost balance on uneven ground, tipped over resulting in offside muscle injury.
It took some time before he was as fit to travel, when home, he was walked and walked and walked. Dave O’Sullivan took over the training, you can imagine our joy when we loaded our staff on the utes and headed to Matamata for finally his first trial. The race caller, when O’Reilly was at the gates, suddenly announced his withdrawal. He had pulled a plate, replated he won the next heat – we were finally on our way. A Group 1 after his first two wins. A brief freshen and off to the 1200m Telegraph, Dave said he is unbeatable, it’s never that easy, but win he did with a stiff breeze across the track, he ran 1:07.36. This is Ka Ying Rising’s grandfather. He is considered the best sprinter in the world, winning his 16th in a row this time over 1200m in 1:7.70.
The ongoing influence of O’Reilly makes us very proud. His success as a sire, broodmare sire, he was a lovely horse to work with. He was a mate.
I reckon if Jim Marks had not failed him, the late Ivan Allen would have purchased, gelded in Hong Kong – he may have been the first Ka Ying Rising, but there wouldn’t have been a second.
Cheers,
G
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