Well-bred filly too good

6 November 2014

Gracehill showed she had inherited a good measure of the family ability with a perfect debut performance at Tauranga on Saturday.

It was in fact the same meeting that her black-type dam Irish Colleen debuted for success at some seven years earlier.

A trial winner last month, the three-year-old finished off determinedly to win over 1400 metres at the first time of asking.

Prepared by Roger James, she is a daughter of O’Reilly and the first foal of the Shinko King mare Irish Colleen. She was the winner of seven races, including the Gr 2 Concorde Handicap and the Listed Rotorua Stakes.

A direct female descendant of the former champion Australian mare Maybe Mahal, Gracehill was purchased by James out of WS’s Select Sale consignment in 2013. The Cambridge trainer also bought her brother for the same price at Karaka earlier this year.

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.