Respected horseman Dennis Roche has only sold yearlings for a few years but has already made a big impact on the WA breeding scene and could even bag an Australian 2YO filly of the year award this year with $215,000 Westbred final winner Reinette.
Roche, known to most in the industry as Ginger, has been involved in harness racing for more than 60 years as a trainer-reinsman but didn’t focus on yearling sales until recently.
The 78-year-old offered four fillies at the 2023 APG Yearling Sale and two of them played a big part in 2YO classic races last season.
Vincent filly, Reinette, sold to the Nafranec family for $15,000 and went on to earn $190,000 plus bonuses in a stunning debut season.
She won her first start at Pinjarra in January and finished off the year with a win in the Group 1 Westbred final and a second in the Group 1 Golden Slipper against the colts.
She also won the Group 3 Champagne Classic and finished fifth in the Group 2 Diamond Classic after winning a heat in 1.56.5.
Those results should rocket her to the top of the rankings for 2024 national 2YO filly of the year.
Another Roche filly, Bettagetonpip, won five races and $88,000 for a syndicate of owners headed by media personality Tim Gossage and trainer Ryan Bell.
She also won at her debut in January and finished runner-up in the $100,000 APG 2YO fillies classic in March.
She finished the year with a second in the Group 2 Diamond Classic.
It is an impressive record for a breeder with just five broodmares.
Roche bought a 40-acre agistment centre in Boyanup 20 years ago and decided to focus on commercial breeding after stepping away from training about five years ago.
He moved from Pemberton where he raised beef cattle and farmed avocadoes.
“I became involved in training horses at the age of 14 when a started helping my older brother Les train them on the farm in Pemberton,” Roche said.
“I was driving trials at the age of 16, with my first trial at the Bridgetown track and then I became qualified to drive in races.
“My first official horse race was also at Bridgetown, driving a horse named Eastbrook Lass. Eastbrook was the area in Pemberton where we lived.
“When I was 20, I was training and racing horses for other people. I have been in the game a while.”
The 2025 APG Perth Yearling Sale will be Roche’s third as a vendor. He will offer a colt and a filly.
“Reinette is the best horse I have bred,” he said. “The best horse I have purchased/owned, along with my wife Dot, is Kathmandu (1.58.9, $84K). I bought him at the sale and he won 3YO of the year in the early 2000s.
“We enjoy watching the horses we have sold at the sales. It is great to see them and their owners/trainers do well.
“We are selling two outstanding horses at this year’s sale this year but the standout would be the colt.
“He is from a top mare (Lamour Dottie) by a top sire (Sweet Lou). He is upstanding and very athletic.”
The colt is Lot 447 and he certainly has the Sweet Lou stamp, in the mould of star colt Never Ending and brilliant filly Water Lou.
His dam, Lamour Dottie, is by Somebeachsomewhere and won eight races. She took a lifetime mark of 1.55.3 as a 3YO. It is her first foal.
This is the outstanding Bonnie Blue Eyes family that has produced a swag of classic winners, including tough grand circuit performer No Blue Manna (1.56.6, $629K) and WA Derby and WA Oaks runner-up Cott Beach.
The filly, Lot 459, is by Vincent from Mach Three mare Lems Cameo (1.58.2, $39K), who has already produced three winners from her first three foals.
Lems Cameo is a half sister to tough campaigner Arid (1.51.6, $383K), who won 54 races.
For full details of these or any other yearlings in the 2025 Perth Yearling Sale please visit APG’s Online Sales Catalogue or Register as a Buyer today!
