Owning a Warwick Gold Cup winner is something every campdrafter dreams of. Few get to experience it. Fewer still, bring a horse back from obscurity and nurse them back from injury to watch them take home the Cup just a year later – after having only 13 prior starts!
SDP Scott David’s incredible story is like no other.
Scotty’s owners Sam and Sarah Campbell took a risk and went through a long and arduous process to bring him back from adversity.
Sarah found him when studying pedigrees and noticed a recent sale advertisement on social media. “Up popped this magnificent black stallion, who had been successfully shown in the 2017 NCHA Futurity”, Sarah remembers.
Tracking him down proved harder than expected, and eventually, when Sarah made contact with his owner, she and Sam made the decision to drive through the night to see him.
“Calls to various connections assured us that he was a great horse. It turned out he needed us more than we needed him”.
Scotty had not been heard from since that 2017 Futurity. When Sam and Sarah arrived to look at him, in March 2022, Scotty did not resemble the fine black stallion from six years before.
“He was lame and had mud up to his belly. His feet and teeth hadn’t been cared for”.
Buying Scotty was partly a rescue mission. However, they also knew that his breeding and type alone were a great asset. Despite the very best of care, his lameness continued. Sam and Sarah were worried but were prepared to do all they could to give him the best chance at reaching his potential.
It turned out that Scotty had a serious tendon sheath infection and required surgery. He was given a 50/50 chance of fully recovering and returning to competition. He was sent to Goodwood Equine for six months of rehabilitation involving daily hand-walking, Theraplate treatments, and spa sessions.
When Sam finally started riding Scotty, he was given plenty of time to build fitness slowly. Sam and Sarah then took him to a Jamie Seccombe cutting clinic, where he took everything in his stride. Over the next few months, Scotty resumed cutting competitively in several small events, winning ribbons with Jamie, Sam and Sarah.
The long-term plan was to direct him towards campdrafting. Scotty showed a natural ability to travel low, with great balance. Sam and Sarah were confident that he would draft.
Kimberley Sammon was surprised when she got a call from Sarah telling her they had purchased Scotty. She remembered him from the Futurity and said she thought he looked like he would draft. She was surprised when she didn’t hear anything of him again.
In his first start, Scotty won the cutout and managed to get a full course. From then, he improved with every run. He got a few places before taking a break for the breeding season. He returned in early 2024, taking five 2nd places in a row. His first win was in the Maiden at Rathdowney, the day Warwick nominations closed.
Scotty and Kimberley put together a 90-point run at Chinchilla, but with Warwick looming, Kimberley was conscious of not putting too much pressure on him, being so new to the sport. Yet Scotty surpassed all expectations, improving with every run and taking everything in his stride. Kimberley said he feels like a horse that has been on this earth and done it all before. “What he instinctively knows, you cannot teach.”
A 90-point first-round run in the Warwick Gold Cup was an exciting start, and it was all Sam and Sarah could have hoped for — more than anything, they wanted him to put a nice run together and showcase his ability. However, an 89-point score in the second round put Scotty on the 2nd highest aggregate going into the final.
Kimberley said that the Gold Cup final was the first time she really asked Scotty for everything he had – and he gave it.
“It was an unbelievable way to break open status”, Sam said.
“Having a horse win the Gold Cup is an absolute dream. It was something that, 12 months before, we didn’t think could be possible, but the cream always rises to the top. He had the ability, and when he finally got the opportunity, he didn’t waste it. Knowing his story, we all have so much love and respect for him, and we believe that this was his destiny!” Sarah explained.
Sam and Sarah arranged to buy the heifer Scotty put around in the final, who will live out her days on their property with Scotty.
Sam and Sarah credit many people for their part in Scotty’s story: breeder Debbie Donohoe, Jamie Creek for putting an amazing foundation on the horse, Jamie Seccombe for bringing him back into competition, Angie and Darren from Goodwood Equine, and of course Kimberley Sammon who Sarah and Sam consider to be an incredible horseperson.
“It was so special to share the Gold Cup win with her and her family.”
Scotty is a very special horse in every way. His breeding is second to none, being by US NCHA Hall of Fame stallion in Hydrive Cat and out of Spins Cherry Oak – the mother of other great horses such as Dulce’s Glory, One Sweet Cherry and Cherry Drive. “She might be the only horse in history to have produced an NCHA Open Futurity Champion and the winner of the Warwick Gold Cup!”
Sam and Sarah’s motto is, “A family of Champions produces Champions!”
There are a limited number of progeny from before Scotty came to Sam and Sarah, one of which is the 2024 Blue Mountain Maiden winner Louisiana, owned by Stewart and Kerry Wallace. Scotty was bred to Sam and Sarah’s mares and a handful of outside horses in the 2023/24 season, and Sarah said he certainly puts his stamp on them.
Scotty certainly has proved worthy of the care, love, and belief that Sam and Sarah have in him. Whatever comes next is icing on the cake.
