Kennewell lands his ‘must-have’ I Am Invincible filly for $400,000

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Baramul’s daughter of champion sire tops day one of Magic Millions sale

Ten years ago, trainer Lloyd Kennewell paid $40,000 for an I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) filly at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale.

That filly turned out to be dual Group 1-winning sprinter Viddora, a mare who took the then Morphettville-based Kennewell around Australia and paved the way for him to move to Melbourne, and the trainer, who now trains in partnership with Lucy Yeomans, is hoping another daughter of I Am Invincible can head in a similar trajectory.

On day one of the 2024 Adelaide sale, Kennewell and agent Mathew Becker secured the Baramul Stud-bred and consigned first foal of Les Amoureux (Redoute’s Choice) for a session-high $400,000, which made her the most expensive filly ever sold at an Adelaide sale.

A colt from the third southern hemisphere-bred crop of Coolmore’s shuttler Justify (Scat Daddy) also sold for $300,000 on Monday, while colts by Toronado (High Chaparral) ($225,000), The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) ($200,000) and Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) ($180,000) also featured in the higher-priced day one lots offered.

A first-crop filly by Russian Camelot (Camelot), who made $180,000, also sold late in the session, which saw 15 six-figure yearlings change hands.

Catalogued as Lot 63, the high-priced daughter of Yarraman Park’s I Am Invincible, described by Kennewell as “a bloody good filly”, will be raced by prominent Western Australia-based owner and breeder Santo Guagliardo of Ridgeport Holdings.

“I thought she could have been at the Gold Coast or Easter, for sure. She’s one of the best Vinnies I’ve seen all year and that says something as we see a lot of them,” Kennewell said. 

“She just looks like she’s a filly who is perfect for the [Magic Millions 2YO Classic] race next year.”

Kennewell, Becker and Guagliardo held off the challenge from trainer Phillip Stokes who was the underbidder.

“I knew she’d be expensive, but we just didn’t know where that’d be, being Adelaide, it’s tricky [to value horses like her],” Kennewell said. 

“I had Santo … on the phone and I didn’t quote him that much money but we didn’t even start bidding or talking until she got to $340,000.

“I said to him that this is the one I really want for the year for him. We had two bids on her and we were lucky to secure her and beat Stokesy.”

Kennewell and Becker also bought a Tassort (Brazen Beau) filly for $100,000 later in the afternoon, while they also combined with Hong Kong agent George Moore when paying $65,000 for a Kambula Stud-sold Written By (Written Tycoon) colt. 

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The Autumn Sun rises in Adelaide for returning Moroney

Paul Moroney believed his $200,000 The Autumn Sun colt would not have been out of place at the upcoming Inglis Easter sale such are the yearling’s credentials.

Signing alongside Catheryne Bruggeman, Moroney bought the colt on behalf of his trainer-brother Mike, the agent earmarking the third crop colt by the Arrowfield Stud-based sire as a Derby style of horse being a half-brother to Geelong Classic (Listed, 2200m) winner Grand Pierro (Pierro).

“From the time I saw him in first inspections, I think I saw him on Thursday, and the first thing I did was send Mike a message saying: ‘There’s a colt here that if you were here, you’d buy’,” Paul Moroney said.

“He’s a half-brother to a good stayer, who performed at three, and I just loved the way he moved. He moved like a panther. 

“I had five looks at him, including another one this morning, and every time he came out, put his head down and went [about his job].”

Sold by Cornerstone Stud, the colt is the seventh foal out of the stakes-placed three-time winner Le Societe (Anabaa), who has also produced the black-type placed Indiscretion (Sebring).

“I also said to Mike this morning that I am really glad that Guy Mulcaster and Chris Waller aren’t here because he’s the style of horse that they would buy,” said Moroney, who had not attended the Adelaide sale for 25 years. 

“I am pretty sure if they were here we’d have had very strong competition on him, knowing they had The Autumn Sun [as a racehorse].

“He’s just one of those lovely moving staying colts that we try to buy every year and they’re getting harder to find. When you do find them, you know that you’re going to have to pay a fair bit for them.

“He wouldn’t have been out of place at Karaka, Sydney Easter or in Melbourne.”

Moroney and Bruggeman also signed for an Invader (Snitzel) colt with regular clients Tony and Maddy Sears for $30,000 on Monday. 

Munz snaps up Justify colt

In the same week as Justify’s son Storm Boy awaits his Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) destiny, a colt by the same sire will sport the well-known red and white striped colours of Victorian owner Jonathan Munz, the same silks associated with Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Super Seth (Dundeel) and Everest (1200m) winner Giga Kick (Scissor Kick).

Rodney “Rocket” Douglas, Munz’s Pinecliff racing manager, was at the Morphettville sales complex to bid on the Justify colt and had to see off strong competition for the Linda Huddy bred colt, but eventually won the day when the gavel fell in his favour at $300,000. The youngster will be trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman.

Sold through the Rushton Park draft, the colt is the first foal out of the four-time winning, stakes-placed mare Shop Til I Drop (Savabeel), who in turn is a daughter of Melbourne Group 2 winner Shopaholic (Pins) and a granddaughter of Group 3 winner Splashing Out (O’Reilly).

“We are thrilled with the result. The colt had developed nicely leading into the sale and was beautifully presented,” Huddy said. 

“He’s from one of our nice young stakes placed mares – the sort you love to breed with. It was a great result being her first foal.” 

Tony and Calvin McEvoy and their agent Damon Gabbedy were under bidders.

“He’s gun stallion out of a good family. He’s a late foal [November 8], so he might take a little bit of time, but the good races are 12 months away,” Douglas said.

“Anthony liked him, I spoke to the boss who is overseas and we went from there. Jonathan had Super Seth, he was in King’s Legacy and Castelvecchio, so he’s been in a lot of stallions, so we are hoping this horse can do the job. The stallion looks to be doing it, so fingers crossed.”

Munz also bought the Inglis Premier-topping Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) filly for $925,000 earlier this month. 

Hong Kong plan for Toronado colt

Agent Shane McGrath and trainer Clinton McDonald’s immediate focus may be Saturday’s Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) with their Blue Diamond (Gr 1, 1200m)–winning filly Hayasugi (Royal Meeting) but they are also thinking ahead with the $225,000 Toronado colt.

McGrath, who bought and races Hayasugi in partnership, purchased the Balcrest Stud-bred and consigned colt with a view of on-selling him to Hong Kong. The yearling is the first foal out of the multiple stakes-placed mare Kabini (Written Tycoon).

“He’s a lovely colt and Toronado is a really good sire in Australia and he’s doing a good job in Hong Kong as well. Part of my business is trading horses into Hong Kong and he vetted cleanly for Hong Kong,” McGrath said.

“We have plenty of options with him, we’ll take him home and get him broken in. He’s a horse who I think has a lot of natural improvement in him and I am envisaging what he’ll be like in 12 months’ time. We’ll get him up to trial stage and make a plan with him from there.”

McGrath also bought a Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) colt later in the day for $70,000 out of the Evergreen Stud Farm draft.

O’Neill and Hickmott’s punt on Too Darn Hot

High-profile owner John O’Neill teamed up with premiership-winning South Australian trainer Michael Hickmott to purchase a colt by Darley’s emerging shuttler Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) for $180,000 early on Monday.

O’Neill’s Punt Road Racing syndicate had Storyteller (Written Tycoon) win first-up at Morphettville on Saturday and his Hickmott-trained two-year-old stablemate Dyer (Zousain) won his first start a fortnight earlier at the Adelaide track.

The Too Darn Hot colt, who is by the same sire as first crop southern hemisphere-bred stakes-placed two-year-olds Arabian Summer, Too Darn Lizzie and Silmarillion, is the last foal out of the Group 3 winner Just Discreet (Exceed And Excel), a sister to the former Hickmott-trained three-time stakes-placed Always Discreet.

Bred by David Peacock and raised at Mill Park Stud, the colt’s two-year-old half-brother Vossmania (Blue Point) won a Geelong barrier trial in January before being exported to Hong Kong.

“He’s got a beautiful pedigree, he’s got one of the best brands in Australia, David Peacock’s brand on him, and he’s by a very exciting young stallion,” Hickmott said.

“He’s a 19th of November foal, so he’s got significant improvement left in him. He’s the last foal out of that mare and the two-year-old was a very impressive trial winner recently before being exported to Hong Kong.”

While O’Neill and his friends will take majority ownership in the colt, some shares will be available to interested parties.

“Any Richmond supporters out there who want to race in the Punt Road Racing colours can join us,” Hickmott said. 

“He’s going to be a very popular colt.”   

Hickmott and O’Neill also bought a Justify (Scat Daddy) filly out of the US stakes-placed mare My Dinah Lee (Discreetly Mine) from the Caithness Breeding draft for $150,000.

The sale started precariously with the clearance rate hovering around 50 per cent for the morning session, but Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch was pleased with the way the afternoon played out.

With a turnover of almost $7.5 million, it was down ten per cent on the corresponding day one session in 2023, while the average was down five per cent, closing on Monday at $51,209. 

“I think the way we closed off for the day, we’re pleased with how the day went. To have a clearance rate of 74 per cent and an average $51,000, they’re healthy numbers to finish day one with even though it started pretty harshly, I thought,” Bowditch said. 

“It was tough for the first two to three hours, clearing only half of what we were offering, but once the sale wound up, buyers got confidence to bid in the market and vendors may well have adjusted their reserves at some point. 

“All in all, we found a good median and it got healthier as the day went on, so that puts us in good shape to end with what, this year, is seen as an acceptable clearance rate at the end of [today]”

Day two will start at 10am (CDST).

 

Sale statistics – day one

2024 2023  

Catalogued 226 234  

Offered 198 201  

Sold 146 (74%) 155 (77%)  

Aggregate $7,476,500 (-10%) $8,351,000    

Average $51,209 (-5%) $53,877    

Median $35,000 (-12.5%) $40,000    

Top Lot $400,000 $230,000