Group One winner Sound Proposition is unlikely to be pressed back into action before the summer.

“We’ve had a good meeting with the owners and they are in no hurry and the horse will enjoy a good long break,” said Andrew Scott, who trains the Savabeel gelding with Lance O’Sullivan.

Sound Proposition Photo: Trish Dunell

“His first goal will probably be the Tauranga Stakes in November and then we’ll head toward the Group One weight-for-age Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.

“His form is better going right-handed and we’re not in any hurry – he’s a firm track horse.”

The lightly-raced Sound Proposition hasn’t raced since he won the Gr.1 Easter Stakes in April and his trainers liked what they saw when they recently inspected the four-year-old.

“We had a look at him last week and he has grown and developed,” Scott said.

Sound Proposition was successful in the Easter at just his 11^th start and he is expected to be at his peak next season.

“He was incredibly immature at three and he’s had a quiet four-year-old year – we’ve always thought he would be best at five as he’s a lightly-framed, athletic type,” Scott said.

While the Hawke’s Bay spring carnival was never on Sound Proposition’s programme, the stable may still have a player here.

The former Italian stakes winner and Group One Hong Kong performer Willie Cazals is making good progress toward a return to racing with the Spring Classic a possible target.

“We gave him a year off on the hills to get over any aches and pains,” Scott said.

“He’s trouble-free at this stage and we may get him to Hastings for the last Group One.”

O’Sullivan and Scott have previously enjoyed carnival success with another ex-Hong Kong galloper in Pure Champion, who won the 2014 Windsor Park Plate after finishing third in the Makfi Challenge Stakes. – NZ Racing Desk.

Family members and former Matamata College classmates made up just some of those who cheered 16-year-old Sam Weatherley back to scale at Matamata on Wednesday.

Weatherley will forever have fond memories of the Ernie Griffiths-trained Maddee Fae after the $21 longshot provided him with the first winning ride of his career.

Apprenticed to Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott, Weatherley kicked the 4-year-old clear on the turn and they waltzed home by four lengths.

Ever confident the young jockey, kept his composure in the post-race interview with Trackside's Brendan Popplewell.  

"It's a great thrill to get my first win on your home course like this," he said. "When I saw the barrier one draw I knew what I had to do and it played out beautifully."

Weatherley is a third generation jockey. His father Darryn and grandfather Danny were both successful jockeys of their era. Adding further to his racing pedigree, his late great-grandfather Fred Beguely was an outstanding trainer at Matamata.

His mother Lou is employed in an administrative role at Wexford Stables after working for former Matamata trainer John Sargent for more than a decade.

Weatherley's sole blemish on Wednesday was acknowledging the crowd cheering him home with an extravagant salute before the finish line - stewards acknowledged his excitement and career-first achievement by letting him off with a warning.

Sam Weatherley will forever have fond memories of Maddee Fae after the longshot provided him with the first winning ride of his career at Matamata on Wednesday.

“It’s a great thrill, especially to get my first win on my home track - I’m stoked,” he said.

Apprenticed to Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott, Weatherley kicked the Ernie Griffiths-trained four-year-old clear on the turn and they waltzed home by four lengths.

The 16-year-old is from a racing family with his father Darryn a former jockey with 281 winners to his credit and his mother Lou is employed in an administrative role at Wexford Stables after working for former Matamata trainer John Sargent for more than a decade.

Multiple stakes winner Secret Spirit is making steady progress toward a return to racing.

“She is probably about three weeks away from a run,” co-trainer Andrew Scott said. “She’s coming along well, but there are no concrete plans for her just yet.”

Meanwhile, stablemate Gentil Tonton’s last-start effort to run second in the Gr.3 Rotorua Cup earned him a break.

“He’ll have three weeks off and we’ll bring him back up for the staying races in the spring,” Scott said.

Sam Weatherley looks to have an ideal opportunity to open his account for Wexford Stables on their home track on Wednesday.

The 16-year-old apprentice has had three rides, but he will combine with his employers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott for the first time on race day when he partners Prize Lord in the Matamata Tractors & Machinery 1400.

Sam Weatherley Photo: Trish Dunell

“Sam has ridden him every morning of his preparation,” Scott said. “He’s an older horse so he knows his way around and hopefully they can get the job done.”

Prize Lord is well-seasoned for the contest having finished in the money in each of his three runs this campaign.

Fourth on the course when resuming in March, the four-year-old was then third at Rotorua before he showed further improvement to finish runner-up at Matamata earlier this month.

“He’s come back well and he’s pretty fit now,” Scott said.

Meanwhile, a bold showing from Fascination Street at Ellerslie on Saturday will earn her a return to black type racing.

“There’s an open 1400 metre race for her and as long as she runs well then she will go on to Tauranga for the fillies and mares’ race,” Scott said, referring to the Listed Team Wealleans Classic on June 25. – NZ Racing Desk.

PHOTO: Sam Weatherley with O'Sullivan-trained Strata Lady

Louise Weatherley suspected there would be another jockey in the family when three-year-old son Sam would climb aboard dad's saddle perched on the couch and start flourishing the whip like there was no tomorrow. 

She rather hoped he would grow out of the pastime and end up studying for a professional career with  fewer risks. 

But there was no holding back Sam, now 16. He was going to be a jock like dad Darryn, now stable foreman with Wexford Stables in Matamata and nothing mum, personal assistant at Wexford, would say was going to deter him. 

"He is a very brainy kid," says mum. "I hoped he would become an accountant or something but no he wanted to be a jockey and that was that.'' 

Matamata College wanted him to continue his studies too but the Dean failed to sway him as well. 

While at school Sam began working for John Sargent and when he left for Australia Sam moved on to Wexford where he was mentored by the champion rider himself Lance O'Sullivan. 

A hard worker, he lost a lot of weight and suddenly a   career as a jockey was well within reach.   
"Lance has been very good to Sam. He knows the dangers of being a jockey. So has Noel Harris," says Louise. 

She says Sam never misses a race meeting. He is glued to Trackside. Whether it be coverage from New Zealand, Aussie, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sam watches it all. 

Even late at night Louise can hear Sam thrashing his bed as if he is in a breakneck finish to the Melbourne Cup. 

"I say to Darryn I think that kid is nuts."

And now his big moment has arrived. He gained his jockeys' licence this week and will make his raceday debut aboard Legnani for Craig Thornton at Rotorua Saturday.

Mum says she is nervous, Dad is playing it cool, Sam just wants the race to start.

It's sure to make great viewing. No doubt Sam will have it taped and watch it intently along with the scores of other races from around the globe.

Why change the habits of a lifetime.....

Wexford Stables added another Easter trophy to its list when Sound Proposition stormed to victory in the final Group One contest of the season at Ellerslie today.

Defying the unfavourable set-weight and penalty conditions of the revamped Easter Stakes, the Savabeel gelding carried 55 kilograms to post just the fourth win of his career.

The Wexford association with the Easter goes back to 1981 when Shivaree won for the Dave O’Sullivan-Garry Phillips combination. Fittingly, that horse was part-owned by Bob Black, whose son Bryan now sponsors the race through his heavy vehicle business Manco.

Our Shah (1982), Eastern Joy (1985) and Calveen (2005) added further wins, with the last of those being Lance O’Sullivan’s first Group One win as a trainer. Victory for the former champion jockey, who had included Eastern Joy among his three Easter wins, was especially sweet, coming just weeks after the long-running cobalt case involving himself and training partner Andrew Scott was resolved with a pleas of guilty to presentation and a $60,000 fine.

Right in the middle of that investigation was today’s big winner. Sound Proposition was found to have cobalt in his system when he finished third in last year’s New Zealand Derby and, along with the minor winners Suffire and Quintastics, was eventually disqualified.

“This is very satisfying,” O’Sullivan said after Michal Coleman brought the Savabeel gelding with the last run to deny an even longer shot, Trojan Warrior, of the win by a head. “It’s been a trying time the past year or so, but I have to say these owners and most of our other clients have been great.

“We did lose a handful of owners, but once the whole thing was settled I took it upon myself to repay the lost prize-money to those who were affected, which included the $65,000 Derby stake.

“Today was payback time for everyone - and it feels good.”

After Sound Proposition had been aimed at the Easter several weeks ago, O’Sullivan and Coleman both admitted to a certain lack of confidence in the final lead-up to today’s race.

“He had been racing well and working the place down all the way through, but then I wasn’t so sure about his gallop on Tuesday morning,” said Coleman after he added today’s win to his Te Aroha Group One victory on Perfect Fit two weeks ago.

After that gallop, chiropractor Rick Boyd was called in and a much happier horse fronted up for today’s race.

“I had been loyal to him as I knew her had big win in him,” Coleman said. “Everything went well out there, he travelled nicely for me, tracked up and was strong at the line.”

Runners were spread across the track in a very competitive finish. Runner-up Trojan Warrior had just a short neck to spare over Rasa Lila, who hit the line late, with just a head to Sakhee’s Soldier, who did well after being posted wide.

Others right in the final stages action included Mabeel, who had shadowed the leader Snapshot and wilted only in the final 50 metres to finish fifth, while Watch This Space was right in line next after diving through with 150 metres to run.

History repeated itself for Wexford Stables when Sound Proposition came off the ballot to win the Gr.1 Manco Easter Stakes at Ellerslie on Saturday.

The win came 31 years after Eastern Joy, trained by Dave and Paul O’Sullivan and ridden by Lance O’Sullivan, also got a late call-up into the Easter field and came up trumps.

Sound Proposition (nearest camera) defeats Trojan Warrior in the Gr.1 Manco Easter Stakes at Ellerslie Photo: Trish Dunell

“Eastern Joy got in at 7.20am on race morning – Dad (Dave) reminded me off that this morning,” said Lance O’Sullivan, who trains Sound Proposition in partnership with Andrew Scott.

“It was a great win and I’m thrilled for all the staff at home. Andrew and all the team have done a great job with this horse and Darren Weatherley rides him in work every morning. 

"We were going into it today thinking he’s well out of it in the handicaps, but Mickey [rider Michael Coleman] was a bit Bullish about his chances. He said he likes Ellerslie and it’s good to have Mickey back on again today.”

Sound Proposition lost a Group One placing, his third in last year’s New Zealand Derby behind Mongolian Khan and Volkstok’n’barrell, when disqualified for having elevated levels of cobalt in his system.

O’Sullivan and Scott were subsequently charged with presenting three horses to race with a prohibited substance, however the Racing Integrity Unit found they did not purposely administer cobalt in what was a highly publicised and protracted case.

"It’s a very satisfying win,” said O’Sullivan. “It has been a tough 12 months but we’ve all come through it and out the other side and as far as Wexford Stables goes it’s onwards and upwards." 

Sound Proposition has started just five times since his Derby performance and he showed he was back on the right track when winning a Rating 85 1600 at Ellerslie earlier this month.

"He came into the race through the back way – he wasn’t in any of the big races coming in,” said O’Sullivan. “He had to earn his spot in the race."

Settled back by Coleman, Sound Proposition unleashed his winning run wide out and nabbed outsider Trojan Warrior in the last stride to score by a head.

It was the fifth win in the Easter for Wexford Stables following on from Shivaree (1981), Our Shah (1982), Eastern Joy (1985) and Calveen (2005).

Trojan Warrior produced a huge effort for second as he was unsuited by the set weights and penalties conditions of the Easter.

Rasa Lila charged home late for third, a short neck from the runner-up, while Sakhee’s Soldier was right in line in fourth position, just under a length clear of Mabeel. – NZ Racing Desk. 

Gold Rush will have the opportunity to complete a notable early treble for her internationally famous father when she heads to the central districts for her next assignment.

She credited her New Zealand-bred sire So You Think with his first winner and opened the champion galloper’s black type account when she triumphed last time out in the Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes.

Gold Rush Photo: Trish Dunell

The Matamata filly will now aim to provide So You Think with a Group One victory as a stallion to go with the 10 he won on the tracks of Australia and Europe when she steps out in the Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes on April 2.

“At this stage she’s going to Awapuni and we’re looking forward to it,” said Andrew Scott, who trains Gold Rush in partnership with Lance O’Sullivan.

“It will be a really strong line-up, but the 1400 metres is going to suit our filly. We’re sure she’s going to run very well.”

Fourth on debut at Ellerslie behind subsequent Group One placegetter O’Rachael, Gold Rush then finished runner-up before she beat the highly-regarded Sassy ‘N’ Smart in the Breeders’ Stakes on her home track.

“She raced a little greenly in her first two starts and then the penny dropped,” Scott said.

“She showed when she won that she can fight like a tiger and she’s only going to improve with that experience under her belt.

“She’s always showed a lot of natural ability. She may not be that big, but she’s quite long and stands over a lot of ground.” – NZ Racing Desk.

Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott will continue to stick to a proven winning formula with the well-bred mare Mary Quant.

The Matamata trainers have the four-year-old in a purple patch of form, which she will look to extend at Te Rapa on Saturday.

Mary Quant Photo: Trish Dunell

As a daughter of the late O'Reilly and the dual Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks and Kelt Capital Stakes winner Legs, Mary Quant is bred to be at her best over more ground but she will be restricted to shorter assignments this preparation.

"While she is racing so well at a mile we will be keeping her to that trip," Scott said.

"She'll run in the Rating 85 mile this weekend and as long as she steps up again then we'll be looking for some black type racing for her."

The Gr.1 Fiber Fresh New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes at Te Aroha could come into play if Mary Quant continues her winning habit.

"We'll know more after Saturday – her form will decide where we go," Scott said.

Mary Quant was successful in her first two appearances in the spring and a couple of minor placings preceded easy 1600 metres successes on her home track at Matamata. 

The stable is also expecting the genuine Persuasive and the lightly-tried Divine Duke to continue their good form at Te Rapa.

"Persuasive has finished second at her last two starts and she should be very competitive again and Divine Duke won well last time out," Scott said.

Persuasive has won three of her 14 starts while Divine Duke, who has been scratched from Wednesday's South Waikato meeting in favour of Te Rapa, broke his maiden with ease last month following a debut third. – NZ Racing Desk.

 Game filly Gold Rush struck a memorable blow for her famous father when she continued a proud stable tradition in their home track feature at Matamata.

She credited her New Zealand-bred sire So You Think, a multiple Group One winner in both hemispheres, with his first success at stud when she claimed the Gr.2 J Swap Contractors Ltd Matamata Breeders' Stakes at the favourite Sassy 'N' Smart's expense.

Gold Rush (red cap) Photo: Trish Dunell

Gold Rush is trained by Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott, who won the event with Satinka in 2007 while the former also rode Ma Chiquita (1985), Morar (1990) and Tristalove (1993) to victory, the trio being trained by his father Dave and his brother Paul, while Phillipa Rush (1989) and Flying Babe (2001) completed his winning tally as a jockey.

Fourth on debut, Gold Rush then finished runner-up to Mongolian Falcon, whose run for second two races earlier in the Listed Reid & Harrison Slipper had further boosted her connections' confidence.

"The form out her last race was pretty strong so it's a fantastic result for us," Scott said. "She's pretty game and really stuck to her task – she looked gone turning in.

"Being by So You Think she will be better the further she goes. We bought her at the sales and to take her right through to this is very satisfying."

Gold Rush, likely to head toward the upcoming Group One juvenile features, broke quickly from the gates to sit on the pace.

"She jumped well but she was off the bit a fair way out and I was concerned, but to her credit she really fought hard," rider Craig Grylls said.

The previously unbeaten Sassy 'N' Smart went back to the tail of the field from her outside gate and she finished strongly with the southern filly What Choux Want taking third money. – NZ Racing Desk.

Trish Dunell

Gold Rush (red cap) charges to victory in Saturday's Matamata Breeders Stakes.

Gold Rush prevailed in the Group II Matamata Breeders Stakes on Saturday relieving some of the stress her trainers Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott are enduring.

The win came a day after the Racing Integrity Unit announced charges against the trainers relating to cobalt found in the system of three of the stable's runners last autumn.

 The charge of presenting horses to race with a prohibited substance is less serious than the charges involved in recent Australian cases, which relate to administering a prohibited substance.

The charges should do nothing to overshadow the wonderful win of a small but courageous filly who fought gallantly under jockey Craig Grylls.

The So You Think filly returned to the winner's stall to a rousing reception from her large group of owners with the imposing figure of co-owner Sir Colin Meads towering over fellow syndicate members.

Gold Rush was largely overlooked leading into the $100,000 feature but her determination proved too much for favourite Sassy 'N' Smart who went down fighting. 

After tracking pacemaking Astara, Gold Rush appeared to be battling as the favoured brigade began to make their move. 

Gold Rush lifted and fought back into contention, rallying alongside Sassy 'N' Smart and lunging for the line to score by a nose with South Island visitor What Choux Want in third.

"What a good effort, I thought she was a spent force before the turn," Grylls said. "It was good to get her home in these colours. She might be small but she's got a big heart."

The victory added to the proud Breeders' Stakes history for the O'Sullivan family and Wexford Stables, the most successful stable in the race's history. 

It was a hard day yesterday for Wexford Stables with the three charges being laid after a thorough 8 month investigation.  As you will see below from the RIU media release, the charges are for presenting.  This shows they have recognised we did not administer the Cobalt which has been a real relief for us as they have acknowledged that there was no intent on our behalf.  We were extremely disappointed with the media and the way they have presented the RIU media release to the public.  We really appreciated your on-going support.