The New Year’s Day races at Ellerslie produced a special result for an Auckland couple who have become some of the biggest names on the New Zealand thoroughbred landscape.

 

Developing stayer Prince Jabeel outstayed his opposition in the $200,000 Gr. 3 Pencarrow Stud City of Auckland Cup, carrying the black and yellow chequered colours of Brendan and Jo Lindsay.

 

Having enjoyed tremendous success in business with the founding and eventual sale of plastics company Sistema, Brendan Lindsay and his wife Jo have rapidly grown their involvement in New Zealand racing and breeding.

 

One of their first successes was the Danehill mare J’Adane, who earned almost $600,000 in prize-money with multiple Group One placings in New Zealand and Australia. She has since produced three sons who have been big-race performers – Von Tunzelman, Sherrif and Prince Jabeel. They were all bred and raced by the Lindsays.

 

Diving deeper into the industry, the couple guaranteed the ongoing Kiwi ownership of one of New Zealand’s most iconic thoroughbred nurseries, Cambridge Stud, when they purchased it from Sir Patrick and Lady Hogan last year.

 

They also have numerous long-standing sponsorships, including two Group One races at Ellerslie – the Sistema Railway, which they have sponsored since 2013, and the Sistema Stakes for two-year-olds (since 2016).

 

The New Year’s Day meeting is Sistema Railway day, and the day’s principal sponsors won one of the biggest prizes.

 

What’s more, they did it with a son of their foundation mare J’Adane, who was bred by the City of Auckland Cup sponsor – Pencarrow Stud owner Sir Peter Vela.

 

“It’s quite incredible when you add it all up,” Brendan Lindsay told LOVERACING.NZ. “For us it’s the perfect result really, winning this race with a horse we bred ourselves and racing him with two very good friends (Jeff Parsonson and Lester Van Der Veer).

 

“We thought he had a chance, but gosh, he’s just won easy, I can’t believe it. That’s the third stakes winner for the mare, which is so exciting.”

 

It was a breakthrough performance for Prince Jabeel, who won his first race in September. He has stepped up with every start since then, culminating in his strong City of Auckland Cup victory over Peso and Mongolian Marshal.

 

Prince Jabeel was saddled by the Lindsays’ private trainer Lance Noble, who made the big decision three years ago to relocate from his former Matamata base to the Lindsays’ property in Karaka.

 

“It’s amazing to be able to do that for Brendan and Jo and the whole team,” Noble said. “It’s a big team effort, so to get a win on a day like this is fantastic.

 

“He’s a 2400-metre to 3200-metre horse that we are trying to get to the Wellington Cup.”

 

Prince Jabeel was ridden by the 19-year-old Ryan Elliot, who has been a standout performer in the last four weeks. He won three races at the Jockeys’ World Cup twilight meeting at Ellerslie in early December, then landed the Listed Uncle Remus Stakes on Boxing Day with Hypnos. In terms of prize-money, this was his biggest win.

 

Elliot has ridden 124 winners in his career, with 24 of those coming this season. His personal best is 43 in the 2016-17 season.

 

“I’m having a really good run – I hope it continues,” he said. “He (Prince Jabeel) travelled outside the leader easily and he was just too tough in the straight.”