Larneuk Stud's O'Lonhro showed why he is regarded as one of the states best value sires with two of his daughters saluting at Sandown-Hillside on Wednesday.
The Thomas Carberry-trained 4yo mare Lady Solly got the ball rolling with a dominant performance in a benchmark 70 over 1000 metres.
Given a positive ride by John Allen, Lady Solly tracked the leader Final Choice to the home turn before quickly dropping her then safely holding the challenge of the royally-bred Snitzel filly Paris by one and three-quarter lengths with Verrazano (USA) filly Mockery a half-neck back in third.
Coming off a similarly dominant performance on the Ballarat Synthetic at her most recent start, Lady Solly is a model of consistency. She advances her record to 3 wins, 2 seconds and 1 third from 7 starts with earnings of $85,250.
That's a fabulous return on her bargain-basement purchase price of just $800 at the 2017 Great Southern Yearling Sale.
She is the third winner from as many foals out of the unraced Ne Coupez Pas (USA) mare Recession Buster who is a half-sister to the stakes-placed The Annihilator from the family of Group II Blamey Stakes winner Zuccherino.
O'Lonhro's second winner at Sandown came with the Tim Hughes-trained Bettyrae Ruby in a fillies and mares race over 1300 metres to give Luke Currie his third winner on the card.
Like Lady Solly, Bettyrae Ruby rarely runs a bad race. Currie had her travelling sweetly just worse than midfield and when the pressure came on she did not flinch in the straight. In a driving finish she defeated Atlantica by one and three-quarter lengths with Lady Loft three-quarters back in third.
A homebred for the Horn family, Bettyrae Ruby advances her record to 4 wins, 6 seconds and 2 thirds from 29 starts with earnings of $152,525.
The 6yo daughter of O'Lonhro had been off the track for a year before her win on the Sandown-Lakeside track ten days ago.
"She come back big and strong and she did that quite nicely today," Hughes said.
"She had a minor strain to her fetlock and we were undecided whether to send her to stud but then with the time she spent in the spelling paddock, she strengthened right up and she has turned in to a nice mare so hopefully she can get some black-type this preparation."
Bettyrae Ruby is the sixth and penultimate foal of the pensioned Danehill mare Fee Mail (GB) who hails from the family of Group 1 Prix de la Salamandre and Group 1 Washington DC International winner Seattle Song.
The striking looking O'Lonhro stands at Larneuk Stud this spring at a value fee of $5,500 inc GST.
