CO TYRONE’s Stephen Kernan received plenty of publicity in a recent issue of the Ulster Herald where an eye-catching heading read: ‘Omagh owner’s delight as race horse fetches over £2mill’.
The story by Tommy Nethery revealed that Kernan was a member of the Ontoawinner Syndicate who owned a half-share in the Karl Burke-trained sprinter Quiet Reflection with the other 50% in the Showcasing filly being the property of Strecker & Burke.
The four-year-old, whose career was curtailed through injury this past season, won eight of her 13 starts which, along with a third-place finish in last year’s July Cup (Group 1) at Newmarket, saw her amass £656,953 in prize money.
Apart from winning her maiden at Hamilton in July 2015, Quiet Reflection always ran in stakes company with her victories coming at Listed, Group 3, 2 and 1 level.
The filly’s Group 1 wins were both posted in 2016, in the Commonwealth Cup at Ascot and Haydock’s Sprint Cup Stakes. She only raced three times this year, her sole victory being recorded in the Renaissance Stakes (Group 3) at Naas in late September. At the recent Tattersalls December Mare Sale in Newmarket, Quiet Reflection was knocked down for 2,100,000 guineas to Blandford Bloodstock who were acting on behalf of M.V. Magnier.
In all three of her runs this year, the filly was ridden by Co Donegal native Martin Harley who notched up his 68th victory of the British season on Wednesday afternoon in the mile and a half handicap at Lingfield.