16 Oct 2018A smart half-length win at Te Aroha by Burgundy three-year-old Midnight Brawler (NZ) provided a perfect a start for owner Simms Davison and trainer Cody Cole today.
“Cody is a young trainer that I decided I would give a go and this is the first horse that we have raced together,” said Mapperley Stud’s studmaster.
“Cody has been doing a great job with Mapperley’s Ready To Run draft and he thinks a bit of this horse, so it was great to get the win today.”
The well-related 3YO was ridden to victory at what was career start number two by Samantha Collett.
“I purchased Midnight Brawler as a weanling. He was always a nice colt so when he didn’t make his reserve at the 2017 Select Sale, I was happy to keep him and roll the dice with him as a racehorse,” said Davison
Bred by Ray Johnson and his late wife Martha, Midnight Brawler is out of the Stravinsky mare The Nightingale, who is best known to date as the dam of Singapore’s Horse of the Year, Infantry (NZ) (Tavistock).
“The Nightingale is due to foal to Tavistock and will return to him again this year,” said Johnson.
“The mare also has a Swiss Ace filly on the ground. She will be presented at this year’s NZB Book One Sale in January by Janine Dunlop’s Phoenix Park.
Highlighted by the two stakes winners Dijon Bleu and Hard Merchandize, Midnight Brawler is one of 16 individual three-year-old winners for the Champion Second Season Sire, Burgundy.