Wellington: In an unusual clash of sporting codes Saturday, a racehorse owned by New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum beat another owned by All Blacks rugby captain Richie McCaw into second place in a race at the Te Rapa course near Hamilton.
McCullum’s Passing Shot, at 4-1, beat McCaw’s previously unbeaten Snapshot, the favorite at 3-1, by two lengths in the six furlong or 1,200-meter race.
McCaw races Snapshot as part of a syndicate including former test teammate Ali Williams while McCullum owns passing shot in partnership with New Zealand cricketers Grant Elliott and James Franklin.
While McCaw may have been able to watch the race, after attending the New Zealand Rugby Awards in Auckland the previous evening, McCullum was in the field in the first test against Sri Lanka when the race took place. Just as he has done with his cricketing pursuits, McCullum is taking a calculated approach toward ensuring bloodstock success.
McCullum, 32, is best known as a world-class batsman in all formats of international cricket but having already enjoyed business success on a global scale through Cric HQ, he is keen to make a similar impact in the world of racing and breeding.
Earlier this year, he has launched his own bloodstock company – Vermair Racing Ltd – and having done his due diligence and market research through having small ownership shares in several horses and taken advice from several prominent industry personalities, McCullum is aiming big.
His mission statement for Vermair Racing – the Vermair Vision – is “to build a stable of horses that compete and succeed on the world’s biggest racing stage.”
