Lance is revisiting those glory days now as a trainer, he and Scott, with some behind-the-scenes help from brother Paul who is back from Hong Kong, won the Group 1 Railway at Pukekohe on New Year’s Day.
They may also have the best three-year-old filly in the country in Molly Bloom.
Lance loves everything about this new Ellerslie, with his remarkable drying StrathAyr surface and is thrilled to be surfing the new wave of enthusiasm for racing.
“Racing has become trendy again,” he tells the Herald.
“It is becoming more like Sydney and Melbourne, a place where young people can get dressed up and have a good time. A place people want to go.
“There have been some tough times and I’ll admit there were times in the last 10 years it was almost embarrassing to race for the money we were.
“The only reason we stayed involved was because we love the horses.”
If racing at the new Ellerslie is glamour then the O’Sullivans are the perfect racing family to embody it.
Lance’s wife Bridgette is a former Ellerslie ambassador and one of the industry’s fashion goddesses while daughters Caitlin (a LoveRacing presenter) and Georgia are a racing marketers dream team.
For this new Ellerslie, where Instagram will be the only App more popular than the TAB one, they tick all the boxes.
But Lance has one worry.
He has no doubts the equine amazon that is Molly Bloom can win tonight’s richest race but she tends to get back the roar home and the new Ellerslie may not be conducive to that style.
“I loved the old track because it was so fair and while I like the fact we have a new track because the surface is so even and fast it might be hard to come from too far back,” explains one of NZ’s racing sharpest minds.
“When you get a fast surface like that the good horses just keeping running and they don’t get as tired and come back to you.
“So to come from back in the field and beat them you need to do something special.
“She can do that because she is a very good filly with a top jockey (Blake Shinn) but ironically she might have been a better chance in this race on the old Ellerslie.”
O’Sullivan and Scott have four starters in the $1.5 million finale, a remarkable strike rate considering they only purchased 12 yearlings who would be eligible two years ago.
“We are proud of that and thrilled with how the stable is going.
“But I’m also just happy that racing is getting back to where it should be.”
Regardless of where Molly Bloom finishes tonight, for one of New Zealand’s racing heroes that already feels like a win.
TAB KARAKA MILLIONS
What: New Zealand’s richest race meeting.
Where: Ellerslie.
When: Today, first of six races at 4.19pm.
Highlights: $1.5million TAB Karaka Millions Three-Year-Old, $1million TAB KM Two-Year-Old, $1million Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic.
Place for a responsible punt: tab.co.nz
Watch: Trackside TV (Sky Ch62), exclusive Ellerslie coverage from 4pm on Sky Ch64.
Can I go? Not unless you already have a ticket, the meeting is a sell-out at 12,000 people.
