England cricket coach Brendon McCullum was celebrating another big victory on Boxing Day after one of his horses landed the feature race in New Zealand.
McCullum, who has helped revive England’s cricket fortunes, is one of the owners of Defibrillate who took out the Group 1 Zabeel Classic at Pukekohe Park.
Having recently overseen England’s clean sweep of the Test series in Pakistan, McCullum was back in his native New Zealand to celebrate as one of the co-owners of the winner of the NZ$320,000 (£166,000) contest.
“It is great to be home,” McCullum told the New Zealand Herald. “I am loving my time up there [England] and they are a great bunch of guys, which is what it is all about."
“But it is still very special to come back here and then to win a race like this a few days after getting home is amazing.”
McCullum's involvement in horse racing stretches back many years as an owner and breeder. He once had a large stable of horses, but due to his overseas commitments, has trimmed his string while retaining a stake in 14 horses.
“Breeding can be tough and being based in England and with the travel in the job I get more enjoyment out of racing them rather than the longer game of breeding,” he said.
“But as much as I love racing I haven’t been to the races much in England, it tends to be mainly cricket or cricket-related activities up there.”
