Racing: Waikato couple set the pace in Christchurch

A Waikato couple have upped their ante in thoroughbred breeding after purchasing the top priced lot for $70,000 at the South Island Sales in Christchurch yesterday.

The horse was purchased by Kylie Fawcett and Eddie Wright of Matamata and the $70,000 price is far removed from two broodmares they had previously bought for $5000 and $3500.

Fawcett said her heart was still racing about half an hour after the buy.

"It's pretty exciting stuff. I'm still shaking. It's a lot of money," she said.

Their purchase was 4-year-old mare Kitty Bird who had won one race from the Waikato stable of Mark Walker.

There were a couple of good reasons for Fawcett and Wright to make the purchase. They already owned a quarter share in the horse which means they will end up paying $52,500 for the other three-quarters.

But the main reason for the purchase was they had a stroke of luck when buying Kitty Bird's dam Kiss In Vain, with a foal at foot, for $3500.

Kiss In Vain suddenly became much more valuable when a few months later one of her foals, Proprietor, won the Galaxy Handicap in Sydney, one of the top sprint races in Australia.

"We followed the family, we always thought Proprietor showed a bit of promise so when the mare [Kiss In Vain] came up for sale we bought her," Fawcett recalled.

"Then Proprietor came out and won the Galaxy."

Fawcett said Kitty Bird's future was now as a broodmare and a likely first mating for her would be with New South Wales-based stallion Belong To Me, the sire of Proprietor.

That mating would produce a three-quarter brother or sister to Proprietor.

- NZPA