O'Reilly's son Fellowship broke through at the top level
in Hong Kong on Sunday night with victory in the Gr
1 Stewards' Cup at Sha Tin. Trained by Paul O'Sullivan,
the gelding had previously been a Gr 2 winner of the
International Mile Trial and had consistently been in
the money against the best of opposition.
Ridden by Zac Purton, Fellowship settled back of midfield
and improved near the turn before coming with a well-timed
run to down Thumbs Up and the warm favourite Good Ba
Ba. "I''ve been finishing second and third in Group
One races so it is nice to win one for a change,"
Purton said. "I thought we had the race won some
distance out but then he started to prick his ears when
he heard the other horse coming and I had to shake him
up a bit."
O'Sullivan said Fellowship would now be set for further
Gr 1 targets in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup on March
14 followed by the Champions' Mile on April 25. "I
have said before he is a genuine Group horse but he
kept running into an ultra fit Good Ba Ba," he
said. "He has run close to many Group One horses
so he deserves this. I couldn't be happier as he has
performed extremely well. Actually his bodyweight is
the same as when he won the Cathay Pacific International
Mile Trial. He is a big horse but luckily he had a clear
run."
