Brendon McCullum's reputation on the cricket ovals of the world has been built on aggression and risk-taking.
His entry into stallion ownership, however, could be his biggest roll of the dice of his 33 years.
The Black Caps captain has taken a share in Sacred Falls, who joined the ranks at Waikato Stud in April in preparation for his first stallion duties this spring.
Sacred Falls snared four group 1 victories in his career, including two Doncasters, and showed explosive speed as a 3yr-old, most notably in the 2012 Hawkes Bay Guineas, where he lost six lengths at the start before winning with ease.
He went on to win the group 1 New Zealand Two Thousand Guineas before embarking on a career in Australia under the care of Sydney's leading trainer, Chris Waller.
McCullum, who spoke to the Otago Daily Times at the stallion launch at Waikato Stud's property at Matamata last Friday, said his decision to take a share in the son of O'Reilly was part of his long-term plan after he swung the blade for the last time at international level.
''It's nice to be able to venture into the breeding side of it and taking a share in Sacred Falls,'' he said.
''I've been able to add a couple of broodmares to the breeding side of it as well, but we'll see where it gets to, but that's the long-term plan post-cricket.''
So why Sacred Falls? A lot of that has to do with McCullum's friendship with Waikato Stud boss Mark Chittick.
''We hit it off when we met each other and we've become good friends since. It's not just because Sacred Falls is a great racehorse, but the importance of him to the Chittick family and to Waikato Stud.
''Our friendship was developing as Sacred Falls was winning races and they were going through a lot at the time.''
Chittick told guests at the launch how he watched the 2013 and 2014 Doncasters sitting beside hospital beds as he supported his wife, Lisa, who died of leukaemia in May last year.
An investment in a stallion was the natural progression for McCullum, who established Vermair Racing about 18 months ago.
''It's going to take a lot of work, but we've had some early success and a lot of support as well from some people within the industry,'' he said.
''Our first ready-to-run purchase [Volks Lightning] went out and blazed her trial and will be back trialling at Te Teko at the end of the month.''
It's early days, but it's a long-term plan again. Hopefully we can continue to build a good brand and give people a good experience around being involved with us too.''
McCullum has found plenty of similarities between the racing industry and cricket.
''I love meeting people and the social element of sport and the camaraderie that's associated with it; that's what got me into cricket, and that's one of the appeals of racing as well.''
When asked what his five-year dream in racing might be, McCullum had a clear vision in his mind.
''It'd be nice to have a nice broodmare who got served by Sacred Falls and [the progeny] went on to win a group 1 race in Australia in our colours, syndicated out. That would be the ultimate dream.''
