Larneuk Stud owner Neville Murdoch has announced O’Lonhro will join the roster at his Euroa property for the 2010 season.  As his name suggests, O’Lonhro is by champion racehorse and sire Lonhro and is his first stakes winning son to retire to stud.

The four-year-old is built very much like his dad.  A striking dark brown horse, O’Lonhro is a strong, muscular individual standing 16.2hh.

Lonhro currently leads a deep field in the Australian second-season sires’ premiership this season and will go further ahead if Denman wins the G1 Australian Guineas at Flemington this Saturday.

O’Lonhro (4h Lonhro – Mamzelle Pedrille by Zoffany) was a $220,000 buy at the Gold Coast Magic Millions yearling and repaid the first instalment first time out at Canterbury in February 2009.  He settled well back in the field but charged through the pack in the straight to win, easing down, by one and a half lengths.

“That was the best first-up effort I have ridden in a very long time,” winning jockey Glyn Schofield said.  “He a natural and put them away in a couple of strides.”

Trainer John Hawkes, who guided Lonhro to 11 Group 1 triumphs and an Australian Horse of the Year award, believes O’Lonhro could fit the bill.

O’Lonhro made it two-from-two at Rosehill later that month when he scored an on-pace victory over subsequent G1 AJC Derby winner Roman Emperor.

John Hawkes decided to give O’Lonhro a break instead of extending his initial campaign.  The former Woodlands boss guided Lonhro to 11 Group 1 triumphs and an Australian Horse of the Year award and he rated O’Lonhro very highly.

That was confirmed the following spring when O’Lonhro developed into a genuine Group winning miler.

Racing first-up in the G2 Warwick Stakes, he blew the start and flew home to get within a neck of Swift Alliance.  The winner went to add black-type wins at the Randwick and Flemington carnivals.

Three weeks later, in the G2 Warwick Stakes at Randwick, he looked all over a winner until Patinack Farm newcomer Trusting unleashed a finishing sprint that left racegoers looking for superlatives.

A fortnight later, he franked that form-line with a G2 triumph in the Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick emulated his old man who won the same race in 2002 and 2003.

O’Lonhro returned this year for an autumn campaign that targeted the G1 Doncaster Mile and/or the G1 Audemars Piguet Cup in Hong Kong.  Unfortunately, he required a vet examination after an unplaced run in the G2 Apollo Stakes at Rosehill on February 20 and managing part-owner Ray Gall decided to retire the horse forthwith after just 9 starts.

O’Lonhro is from Mamzelle Pedrille, a Zoffany sprinter-miler with enough talent to win 11 race highlighted by the G2 Theo Marks Hcp in Sydney and the G3 VATC Sandown Stakes and Vo Rogue Stakes in Melbourne.  Her Listed victories in Brisbane included the Qld Tatts Winter Stakes which has since been elevated to G1 status.

The family also includes G3 winning sprinter I Am Invincible who has just been retired to stand at Yarraman Park in NSW.

O’Lonhro will stand alongside Bramshaw, Legion and Tsigane at Larneuk.