The Solitaire Notches 54th SW for O’Reilly

7 February 2012

O’Reilly notched his 54th individual stakes winner on Saturday when his 4YO daughter The Solitaire denied all in the Listed Dunedin Gold Cup (2400m).

The ½ length black-type breakthrough followed a previous start win in the Gore Cup and represented the 5th of this variety for owner/breeders Tony, Ray, Marton and Joe Dennis.

All told, the Dennis Brothers-raced mare has achieved NZ$63,225 in earnings and has been a consistent performer for trainer Steve Anderton, with top two placings coming in six of her last seven starts.

The Solitaire is a daughter of The Dazzler, who is a half-sister to the Dennis brothers’ Gr.1 O’Reilly mare The Jewel. It follows then that Saturday’s winner is a ¾ in blood to the said Gr.1 winner.

The Solitaire also represents the 12th Stakes winner bred on the O’Reilly (s), Centaine (ds) cross and is a strong advocate of the cross’ 64.6% Winners-to-Runners ratio.

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.

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