The racing industry is mourning the death of training great Dave O’Sullivan, 90, following his passing on Friday.
David John O’Sullivan, OBE and New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame member, first made his mark as a jockey before increasing weight forced his hand to take up training in 1961.
From humble beginnings he established Wexford Stables as a force throughout New Zealand, in Australia and as far afield as Japan where he and his sons – training partner Paul and stable jockey Lance – were to share in the crowning glory of victory with Hall of Fame racemare Horlicks in the 1989 Japan Cup.
Tough times shared with his wife Marie and backed by a fastidious approach exemplified by the O’Sullivan motto “Even if a horse isn’t the best in the race, it should still look the best”, he forged an outstanding career underlined by 1,877 wins by the time he retired in 1998.
O’Sullivan’s first major win was the 1973 Hawke’s Bay Guineas with Oopik, who was to add the 1976 Sydney Cup, the first of many major wins in Australia.
Countless notable performers both at home and in Australia included Hall of Fame sprinter Mr Tiz, Waverley Star, Surfers Paradise, Shivaree, Blue Denim and Miltak.
Known universally by his initials DJ, he won his first trainer’s premiership with 62 wins in the 1978-79 season and added another 11 titles in partnership with his son Paul, who was to become the first New Zealander to be granted a licence by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
O’Sullivan and his champion jockey son Lance were honoured for their respective achievements as inaugural New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame inductees in 2006, and were joined by Paul and the O’Sullivan-mentored Mike Moroney in the 2023 Hall Of Fame inductees’ draft.
Fellow Hall of Fame trainer Jim Gibbs, a contemporary of O’Sullivan during his many years training in Matamata, is one of many paying tribute to the much-admired trainer.
“DJ got his licence about 18 months before me and although we were both very competitive, we became good friends,” Gibbs said.
“He was an outstanding horseman with a huge work ethic and attention to detail, and he can take credit for raising the bar for the rest of us.
“He dragged me up to improve and I have to say I was lucky to be training in the same era.”
Having celebrated his 90th birthday late last year, O’Sullivan’s health deteriorated recently and he passed away at his Matamata home in the company of family members.
“Dad would be the first to admit he had a wonderful life,” his son Lance said. “He was a world-class horse trainer and highly competitive, but most of all for us, he was a wonderful family man.
“He worked hard and expected others to as well, but he was always very fair. I would describe him as one of the last living legends of the old school.”
O’Sullivan’s funeral will be held at 11:30am this coming Thursday, May 2, at the Church of the Holy Angels in Matamata.
