On the 9th May 2007 a handsome bay Thoroughbred colt was born out of an Australian mare named COPA DE ORO and sired by champion stallion FLYING SPUR. The colt was appropriately named SPERON D’ORO, which translates in Italian to ‘golden spur’.
In 2009, SPERON D’ORO was sold as a yearling for a healthy $180,000 at the famous Inglis NSW Australian Easter Yearling Sales. He was to be owned by Mr Scott Adams and his loving wife, Mrs Sue Adams who chose to put him into training at Hawkesbury with Gary Frazer who their son, Josh Adams, was apprentice to at the time. It was during his time in training that the handsome bay picked up the nickname ‘Oreo’ as SPERON D’ORO proved to be too much of a mouthful when the lads and lasses started work at the stables at 4am!
As intended, Oreo and Josh teamed up at the races but unfortunately Oreo was too slow and retired at the age of 3 having only earned $1700 in prize money. Despite not being particularly fast, Oreo was a beautiful mover with a handsome face which made the decision to choose his second career an easy one, as Sue and Scott both agreed he would make a wonderful show horse.
Due to Josh often being away at the races, his partner Jess Castle was the lucky recipient of Oreo to look after once Sue and Scott had re trained him for the show ring.
Jess admits Oreo is a quirky horse, not at all naughty or nasty, but the type of horse you have to understand to work with. The more their bond grew, the easier Jess was finding Oreo to re train as she soon found him a fastlearner.
Reflecting on when she was first introduced to Oreo, Jess beams “He has amazingly good looks and a real attitude about him that just completely draws your attention to him. He has an exquisite head and beautiful big eyes. He’s an excellent bodied horse and is well proportioned with lovely straight legs and flowing strides. He’s just a show horse through and through!”
Both Jess and Josh had always dreamed of competing at the Royal Adelaide Show due to its relaxed atmosphere and country show vibe. It’s competitor friendly feelencouraged them to enter six different classes over course the week, with their hopes not necessarily being to win, but to have the hours of hard work and training pay off, with Oreo working accurately and consistently in each individual class.
On the day, Oreo was a dream and didn’t put a foot wrong. “He truly tried his heart out for me” Jess gushes and the results speak for themselves…
NOVICE HACK 15.2hh- 16hh: 2nd place
OPEN HACK 15.2hh- 16hh: 3rd place
LADIES HACK: 6th place
LADY RIDER YEARS 21-30: 2nd place
OPEN HACK SHOWING TB QUALITIES: Top 10
HEAVY WEIGHT OPEN HACK: 1st place
RACEHORSE TO SHOW HORSE: Top 5
FASHIONS OFF THE TRACK: 3rd place
The results they achieved were more than both Jess and Josh could have dreamt of and their pride and love for Oreo couldn’t be greater as he exceeded all expectations.
Looking ahead, Jess has set goals to qualify Oreo for the Grand Nationals in Sydney which is held in March and to win the Pope Cup at the Sydney Royal Easter Show which is for open hack geldings showing exceptional Thoroughbred qualities. Outside of NSW, Jess looks to Melbourne where she would love to compete at the Garryowen Royal Melbourne Show.
It’s clear when speaking to the whole Adams family, including Jess, that Oreo is much more than an athlete to them, he’s also a family pet whom they all cherish and love so very dearly.
We can’t congratulate them enough on their achievements and look forward to following them and their future success.
Words by Kiersten Duke
