Positive Signs for Reliable Man

The signs are good for Westbury Stud stallion Reliable Man, following a string of impressive performances from his southern hemisphere progeny in recent weeks.

With his eldest Australasian progeny now three, the dual Group One winning son of Dalakhani has a slew of promising gallopers threatening to feature in Classic races this spring.

Trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young were responsible for his first two Australian winners in the form of Sully and Main Stage.

The latter was a good winner at Flemington on Saturday when taking out the Listed UCI Stakes (1800m), while Sully finished an unlucky third in the Gr.1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m).

The pair are both well found toward the head of pre-post betting for the Gr.1 VRC Derby (2500m) on November 4.

Reliable Man, who boasts an impressive two and a half-length victory over Dundeel in the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m), is also represented by a pair of well-regarded fillies set to tackle the Gr.1 VRC Oaks (2500m) on November 9.

The Robert Smerdon-trained Lilas charged home late to win a maiden at Geelong after being placed on debut, while the Anthony Freedman-prepared Reliable Dame produced a last-to-first performance to win going away over a mile at Ballarat last week.

"It's very heartening," said Westbury Stud's General Manager Russell Warwick. "There's no better stage to be doing it than in the spring in Sydney and in Melbourne.

"The support from breeders and shareholders in Reliable Man has been overwhelming. He was full a couple of months ago and we closed his book at 150 mares.

"He looks an exciting young stallion, but we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves.

"It's really good for New Zealand to have these young stallions coming through like Reliable Man, Ocean Park and with horses like Savabeel, Iffraaj and Tavistock, New Zealand breeding is really heading back to the lofty heights of 10 or 20 years ago."