By Emma Berry
Highly successful and longstanding owner-breeder Lady Chryss O'Reilly, the owner of Haras de la Louviere in Normandy, has died at the age of 73.
As recently as Saturday, she was represented as the breeder of two Group 2 winners in Britain and Ireland. At Newbury, Witch Hunter (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) won the Hungerford S., while Vespertilio (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), bred in partnership with Ecurie des Monceaux, won the Debutante S. at the Curragh.
As ever, Lady O'Reilly was present at Arqana in Deauville during the last week, where her consignment of yearlings once again put her among the top ten vendors of the August Sale. Haras de la Louiviere also topped Arqana's V.2 Sale on Tuesday with a Kodiac (GB) colt out of Rainbow Vale (Ire) who was sold for €200,000 to Arthur Hoyeau.
Born in America in 1950 as Chryssanthie Goulandris, she held dual US and Greek citizenship. Her parents John Goulandris and Maria Lemos hailed from two Greek shipping dynasties, and she shared her passion for racing and breeding with two of her uncles: George Goulandris owned the 1962 Oaks winner Monade (Fr), while Constantin Goulandris was the former owner of La Louviere and bred two champion trotters.
As well as operating under her own banners of Skymarc Farm and Petra Bloodstock Agency, Lady O'Reilly was also one of the breeding partners in Ecurie des Monceaux. With her husband, the businessman and former Irish rugby international Sir Anthony O'Reilly, she previously owned Castlemartin Stud in Ireland, and she was a former chair of the Irish National Stud.
Lady O'Reilly's achievements as a Thoroughbred breeder span almost 50 years and include the Group 1 winners and influential sires Highest Honor (Fr) and Lawman (Fr), as well as the latter's fellow Classic-wining half-sister Latice (Ire). She also bred the 1996 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Helissio (Fr), G1 Pretty Polly S. winner Chinese White (Ire), and G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Lightening Pearl (Ire) among a host of stakes winners. She was inducted into the ITBA Hall of Fame in 2013.
A hugely popular figure on the European scene, Lady O'Reilly supported a wide range of trainers, including Nicolas Clement, Pascal Bary and Henri-Alex Pantall in France, and Kevin Prendergast, Dermot Weld and Eddie Lynam in Ireland, where her distinctive black-and-white hooped silks with blue cap were carried to victory by the Group 1 winners Rebelline (Ire) and Voleuse De Couers (Ire). She also enjoyed much success with the late British trainer David 'Dandy' Nicholls, who trained for her the likes of group winners Sovereign Debt (Ire), Moss Vale (Ire) and Peace Offering (Ire).
Eddie Lynam, who trained the G2 Sapphire S. winner Soffia (Ire) among other black-type winners for Lady O'Reilly, told TDN, “She was a very kind woman. I was fortunate to have trained for her for 15 years, maybe more, and she was a pleasure to train for as she was very knowledgeable. She will be sadly missed in racing throughout the world, never mind here, where we were very fond of her. She used to come and visit and she was great fun. We did everything bar win a Group 1 for her: we were second in a Group 1 and won a Group 2, Group 3, Listed and all the rest.
“She was great for racing, she was chair to the National Stud here in Ireland and she was a fabulous breeder. My family and I were all very fond of her and we will miss her. My thoughts are with Sir Anthony and the rest of her family.”
Henri Bozo of Ecurie des Monceaux shared Lynam's view. He said on Thursday, “It's a sad day. She's been amazing and she's a huge loss for many people. She was such a supportive and kind person and she made our industry nicer and more human. This is a big shock but she has enjoyed the last days of her life doing what she loved.”
He continued, “Through Patricia Boutin I got to know Chryss at the beginning of my career and she helped me like she helped so many young people. When we started Monceaux she was very happy to go into partnership. She was here all the time. She was a fantastic person when you had to give her bad news, and she was so happy when there was good news. On Saturday we won the Debutante Stakes together as breeders, and she and Patricia and I were in a box together in Deauville and she had a big smile on her face. It is my last memory of her and it is very special.”
Arqana's Eric Hoyeau and Freddy Powell paid tribute to Lady O'Reilly in a joint-statement which read, “It is with deep sadness that we have heard the news this morning. Lady O'Reilly was at the sales this week, greeting everyone entering the B yard with a smile. Many of her friends stopped by to chat with her; we believe that her last few days were happy ones, surrounded by her cherished Thoroughbreds and horse people.
“Chryss has been selling in Deauville for decades and everyone will remember her champions Highest Honor, Helissio, Lawman or Latice. Last Saturday, she was delighted when two of her graduates won Group 2s in England and Ireland, then on Tuesday, La Louviere sold the V.2 top price.
“We would like to express our deepest condolences to her family, her friends and all the people who cared for her horses on her stud farms. Deauville sales will never be the same without her.”
Such notable success on the racecourse and in the sale ring in the last few days of her life are just reward for an individual who put so much time and thought into her own operation and the sport itself. That Lady O'Reilly had raced so many of the horses whose names appear on the page of her sale-topping Kodiac yearling, including his damsire Moss Vale and second dam Rainbows For All (Ire), speaks volumes for her enduring contribution to the world of Thoroughbred breeding.
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