Ocean Park youngster William James put trainer and part-owner Joanne Hillis immediately on the right side of the ledger when he made a winning debut at Riccarton on Saturday.
Hillis and partner Barry Cottle outlaid $8,000 for the gelding at the Select session of the 2017 Karaka Yearling Sale after Hillis had been looking at the Waikato Stud draft during the sale.
“I had a look through the Waikato Stud draft and was contemplating my options when this fellow came back from his turn in the auction ring,” she said.
“I asked them which one it was and they told me he was by Ocean Park and he hadn’t got a bid.
“I took a good look at him and thought he was a pretty nice type. I asked how much they wanted for him and was told $10,000.
“I managed to talk them into $8,000 and he was ours to take home.”
Hillis was taken by the youngster but admitted she wasn’t sure how he would go on the weekend as he hadn’t been off her Mosgiel property before Saturday.
“We didn’t have the opportunity to trial him and or even to gallop him that much, so it was an adventure into the unknown really,” she said.
“The only option to trial him was to take him north to the Canterbury region so we decided he could just as well have a run at the races so that’s what we did.
“Apart from a bit of a mishap at the start where he got down on his haunches, he was quite professional throughout.
“He’s never had more than one horse near him in his trackwork but he seemed to be comfortable enough in the field and when he was asked for an effort he dug deep and scored a nice win.”
Handled confidently by Shankar Muniandy, William James overcame his tardy start to race up into a challenging position on the home corner before drawing clear in the final stages of the 1000m contest.
“This trip away will do him the world of good but it has created a bit of a puzzle for us,” said Hillis.
“We had planned to tip him out but there could also be an option for him at Oamaru if we decide to press on.
“I expect to get a few phone calls about the possibility of selling him so that will add to the confusion.
“There is quite a bit of sentimentality involved as he is named after my father so I don’t really want to let him go. We’re getting on a bit too and it would be nice to have a good horse to race so we will just have to wait and see what plays out.
“The good thing is that he picked up $14,000 for the win so he doesn’t owe us anything with maybe some more to come.”
William James is out of the O’Reilly mare You Too who is a daughter of Cazuleigh, the dam of Gr.3 Waikato Guineas winner, The Fatz.
