by Matt Markham
A decision to be patient back in October looks like it’s going to pay big dividends for Leo O’Reilly.
The Rakaia horseman could have been easily forgiven for getting a little excited 10 months ago by the prospect of the exciting pacer James Dean, but he knew full well back then that what the son of Santanna Blue Chip was showing was just the tip of the iceberg and better things were in store down the track.
So when he bolted in against a good field on the grass at Methven and then ran third behind a couple of smart types at Kaikoura, O’Reilly made the decision to turn James Dean out to the paddock rather than chase the three-year-old riches.
“He’s always been pretty smart in my opinion,” O’Reilly said.
“And I always thought that time was going to be really good for him and that’s why we went for the break when we did with him.”
With a record now of three wins and four placings in his five career starts, there are only positive signs ahead and if Sunday’s win at Timaru is anything to go by then O’Reilly can start getting really excited.
Despite being a three-year-old taking on the older horses, James Dean raced like a hardened stayer as he ran his rivals into the dirt over the 2600 metres.
“I was a bit worried when we had Donegal Carrickfin sitting up outside because he’s such a good stayer, but to my guys credit he just kept fighting and was pretty impressive.
“We need to pick and choose out battles with him a bit now but a race like the Rangiora Winter Cup looks a good option, as does the Kurow Cup too.
“And he should still get better because he hasn’t really done a lot when you look at it.”
A half-brother to the well-performed pacers, Alexis, Jackaroozy and Alex who all did good jobs here before heading to Australia, O’Reilly has a half-brother by Bettor’s Delight at home too who he is currently breaking in.
With eight horses in work, O’Reilly’s race team is currently limited to James Dean and former pacer Jerry Garcia who is starting to get the hang of the trotting game now.
“He’s going great I reckon. For six years all he has ever done is pace and now in six months we are asking him to trot and it’s taking a bit of time to get him sorted.”
“But each time he races, he gets a bit better. I think he will win a few races trotting,” he said.
He’ll have to do a pretty big job to catch up to James Dean though with O’Reilly a big fan of the horse.
“He makes getting out of bed in the mornings a little easier, that’s for sure.”
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