Maggie Made a First Class Fool Out of Me

It's a pretty good achievement for a broodmare to supply two Saturday winners but that was record of the O'Reilly mare Maggie O'Reilly on Saturday 18 August. Showing Off (Savabeel) beat a strong Rating 75 field over 1400m at Te Rapa, then less than half an hour later, last seasons Listed Matamata Cup winner No Excuse Maggie (No Excuse Needed) took an Open 1600m contest at Otaki.

Unfortunately it's not an event with a silver lining for the owners of Maggie O'Reilly, Masterton's famous thoroughbred nursery Te Parae Stud. You see, since purchasing Maggie O'Reilly for $5,000 at the 2009 National Broodmare Sale at Karaka the owners have netted proceeds of just $2,800, but more significantly they are fighting to keep the debilitating hoof disease laminitis from claiming the fourteen-year-old O'Reilly mare.

Despite the trials and tribulations since contracting the disease back in May she is still carrying her 2011 service to No Excuse Needed, which makes the in utero foal a valuable full sibling to No Excuse Maggie.

Maggie O'Reilly was just another mare when I inspected her for her current owners at the 2009 Broodmare Sale. My Sale notes read " rangy, rather plain mare, nice girth but lacking strength behind saddle". Just as well Te Parae overlooked my analysis and relied on the better judgement of Sam Williams, studmaster at Little Avondale Stud and cousin of Te Parae principal Tom William's daughter Angela, who now runs the old Wairarapa breeding institution with her husband, Masterton police sargent Simon Irving.

Purchased in foal to No Excuse Needed, Te Parae offered the resulting colt at the 2010 Karaka Weanling Sale where he was bought by Canterbury nursery Berkley Stud who then reoffered the grey gelding at the 2011 South Island Two-Year-old Sale where he was snapped up by the astute Lisa Latta for $41,000. Maggie O'Reilly missed to Rios in 2010 before she held a service at her third attempt to No Excuse Needed.

If she is to overcome laminitis and even if she is able to deliver a healthy foal this year, Maggie O'Reilly will more than likely be rested this season as the weight of a pregnancy would be too restrictive to her full rehabilitation. Hopefully Te Parae will have a fit and healthy Maggie O'Reilly for a truly commercial mating in 2013.

Footnote: Maggie O'Reilly delivered a healthy grey filly early on 30 September. The value of this foal has increased further with Showing Off winning impressively over the Hastings Spring Carnival and No Excuse Maggie winning the Group 3 Windsor Park Stud Taranaki Breeders Stakes on 13 October. Showing the same courage as her offspring Maggie O'Reilly is continuing to fight the lamanitis.