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.

Pure Alpha delivers again as Ardrossan continues to rise

Ardrossan gelding Pure Alpha led throughout to win by 1.29 lengths at Eagle Farm for owner Ozzie Kheir, taking his earnings past $300,000. The result caps a stellar run for sire Ardrossan, whose yearlings fetched up to $450,000 this year on strong Hong Kong form.

28 August 2026

The Corner with Garry Chittick

It is difficult to maintain momentum when sitting in judgment of racing’s governance. After all, I get no pleasure in searching for non-credible decisions, but one is perpetually bewildered by the rationale behind many of the positions that make little sense.