Last year’s Auckland Cup Charity Ball saw Lucy Lawless postpone Oscar week celebrations just to be in attendance. That’s how special this event is, and this year’s ball was no different.

Two time consecutive Auckland Cup winner, Pentane, took a back seat on the night amidst celebrity racing notables Lance and Bridgette O’Sullivan who MC’d, and guests Kate Waterhouse, the daughter of Australian trainer Gai Waterhouse, and her International Dancing With the Stars, former rugby league partner, Luke Ricketson.
Catriona Williams, a former New Zealand equestrian rider and namesake of the night’s patron charity, the Catwalk Trust, provided off the cuff dance floor entertainment by performing wheelies for guests and friends. Proving that being confined to a wheelchair (since a riding accident) is no deterrent for an untamably-adventurous spirit.
The ball also included a series of delightfully brief auctions, and an address from new patron Richie McCaw.
The Auckland Cup Charity Ballraised $120 000in supportof the Catwalk Trustwhich will go towardshelping challenge the current boundaries of research into Spinal Cord Injury victims and enabling them to walk again.