Haut Brion Her to be covered by I Am Invincible
Haut Brion Her (Zoustar), a dual Group 2-winning six-year-old Three Bridges Thoroughbreds-bred and raced mare, has been retired and will immediately head to stud this September.
The Chris Waller-trained Haut Brion Her, the first mare home in last year’s Everest (1200m) won by Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt), will be covered by Yarraman Park Stud stallion I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) in her first season at stud.
Three Bridges Thoroughbreds’ Peter Liston confirmed the mating yesterday after learning that Waller had made the call to end the Blazer Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) and Sheraco Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) winner’s racing career.
She made just one start this calendar year, finishing fifth in The Galaxy (Gr 1, 1100m) behind Eduardo (Host) at Rosehill in March.
“She’s a superstar mare, she’s a real-deal mare,” Liston said.
“We had her booked in (to I Am Invincible) as a contingency knowing that it was a fair chance of happening. She’s too valuable to race on.
“She doesn’t have to prove anything to us with what we’ve seen her do. She’s won two Group 2s and the first mare home in The Everest the other year (2020).”
Haut Brion Her, who was carefully managed throughout her 13-start career which yielded six wins, four seconds and $1.46 million in prize-money, was retained to race by Liston and Three Bridges clients Gary Johnson and Steve Gardiner.
She is out of the Group 2-placed One In A Million (Redoute’s Choice), who died when Haut Brion Her was weaned, making her a half-sister to the Group 3 winner Karacatis (Hussonet) and Listed winner Shamillion (Shamardal). Her second dam Happen (Zeditave) was also a stakes winner.
Liston was taken with her from the moment she was born at their Victorian farm in 2015.
“We said to our main client, ‘this is a special horse’ and he said, ‘well, why are we selling her?’ and we said, ‘because we’ve got to pay our bills’,” he recalled yesterday.
“So, we sold down our share valued at what we thought she’d make at the yearling sales (and raced her ourselves). That’s how it all turned out.
“We obviously wanted to keep a part of her. We couldn’t not have some of her.”
In a statement announcing Haut Brion Her’s retirement, Waller said: “She was a horse with a lot of talent and sadly we never got to see the best of her.
“Haut Brion Her has been a pleasure to train, she has a wonderful nature and, being by Zoustar, will make a lovely broodmare.”