3 minute read
Brazen Beau makes money for CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Research Trust.
On Monday Brendan and Jo Lindsay of Cambridge Stud purchased a Brazen Beau (I Am Invincible) filly at Karaka which led to more than NZ$300,000 being raised for the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Research Trust.
The journey began a few years ago with Valachi Downs principals Kevin and Jo Hickman purchasing a service to the son of I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), which was donated by Darley, at a CatWalk Trust charity for $100,000.
The Hickmans subsequently decided to sell the resulting filly at the New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sale with all proceeds being donated to the charity.
The filly went through the ring as Lot 313 and was knocked down to the Cambridge Stud owners for NZ$200,000.
"Jo and I are involved with CatWalk under the Lindsay Foundation, our charitable trust," Brendan Lindsay said.
"It's just such a magnificent charity that Catriona Williams has been behind. It's such a terrible thing for people to have an accident and be confined to a wheelchair."
The Lindsays are very familiar with the family, having bred the filly's dam.
"We owned the mother Stepanova, she couldn't run an inch to save her life, but there is a bit of pedigree behind her," Lindsay said.
"She will be out on our Karaka property tonight. We will put her into our system and hopefully we will get the best out of her.
"You never know what could happen, she just might get out there and win the Karaka Million, what a story that would be."
Lindsay was quick to pay tribute to the Hickmans and their generosity.
"Kevin Hickman is the one who needs the congratulations by putting the horse in and donating everything back and for New Zealand Bloodstock for not charging a commission.
"Everybody is a winner, let's hope the horse is a winner."
Gareth Downey of Valachi Downs was also thrilled with the result.
"I think it is an amazing story of generosity and a great story to come out of our industry," he said.
"The hearts of the people involved to contribute to the story are massive.
"It's an amazing gesture on Kevin and Jo's part to be donating the filly in the first place. They are philanthropic by nature.
"Catriona (Williams, CatWalk Trust founder) is in tears. It means so much to so many people and it's a privilege for all of us that have been involved with the journey and to play a small part in it.
"There was a lot of heart in getting her here and there is a lot of appreciation for the outcome."
The session closed with the average and median settling at NZ$150,456 and NZ$120,000 respectively, showing significant increases on last year's Book 1 Sale, representing increases of 9.5 per cent and 20 per cent. The clearance rate sits at 78 per cent with the third and final day set to play out on Tuesday.
"The Australians and Kiwis have undeniably made their presence felt – the stats speak for themselves in what has been a positive day for the New Zealand breeding industry," said NZB's Bloodstock Sales Manager Danny Rolston.
"This is the strongest middle market we have seen for some time, for the median to be as strong as this is a great endorsement of our product and a welcome reward for the support shown to us by our vendors."
David Ellis cemented his position as the leading purchaser by aggregate after a spend of NZ$5,585,000 for 21 horses, while leading country by spend was Australia purchasing 152 horses for a total of NZ$22,322,500.
