Poseidon Stakes set to provide pair of colts with chance to stamp home spring claims
Trainers Lloyd Kennewell and Mark Kavanagh both hopeful their respective runners can measure up down the famous Flemington straight
Saturday’s Poseidon Stakes (Listed, 1100m) at Flemington is set to provide the biggest insight into which horses will be genuine contenders for November’s Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), with promising pair I Am Unstoppable (I Am Invincible) and Lakota Fire (Sioux Nation) aiming to slingshot their names towards the top of the market.
A total of 14 colts and geldings remain in contention for this weekend’s 1100-metre Listed contest, and I Am Unstoppable will bid to further boost the already red-hot form seen in last month’s Vain Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m).
Having been towards the top of many notebooks after an unbeaten two-start juvenile campaign saw him take home the Redoute’s Choice Stakes (Listed, 1200m) on his final outing, the Lloyd Kennewell and Lucy Yeomans-trained colt confirmed his abundant class with a closing first-up third behind Godolphin colt Cylinder (Exceed And Excel) and runner-up Ouroboros (Harry Angel) in the Caulfield Group 3 on August 19.
Cylinder has subsequently confirmed his status as the best three-year-old colt in the land, with a rousing success in the Run To The Rose Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) at Rosehill last weekend, and Kennewell is hoping that solid form can translate into this weekend’s event.
“He’s a really promising colt who ran a flashing race first-up,” Kennewell told ANZ Bloodstock News. “He’s come through that really well and had a nice grass gallop this morning, so we’re excited for Saturday.
“His run the other day probably just enhanced our opinion of the horse to be honest.
“We thought he was a very good colt, so it was good to see him rise to the occasion in the Vain Stakes against some very good opposition and I think he’ll keep coming on from that now.”
By Yarraman Park’s champion sire I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), the colt is out of the 2017 Gimcrack Stakes (Listed, 1000m)-winning mare Satin Slipper (Pierro).
I Am Invincible had 44 yearlings sell at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale last year at an average of $541,591 and, despite his eye-catching pedigree, I Am Unstoppable was the cheapest of the lot, selling to Kennewell and Group 1 Bloodstock for $65,000.
“He had a few x-ray issues, stuff that I could live with and my vet also thought the same,” the trainer said.
“At that sort of money, we were keen to take a punt on the horse and obviously it has worked out for the best so far, so hopefully it can continue that way.
“We’re very diligent with what we do when it comes to sales x-rays. It is a different ball game if you’re paying $500– to $600,000 for a colt, but when we’re looking at what we thought was essentially a 60-to-80 per cent discount on the horse, we were definitely keen to look at it.
“The horse is sound as a bell and he is a very fine specimen. He’s up there with the best colts at the moment and we’re hoping he can continue to race in some of the spring’s biggest three-year-old races.”
Kennewell has admitted that I Am Unstoppable will be running at 90 per cent of his best this weekend, with the Coolmore Stud Stakes back down the Flemington straight the main target.
“If he can keep stepping up to the plate in the coming weeks then the world’s his oyster,” Kennewell said. “I think he is probably about 90 per cent ready for Saturday’s race.
“His main target is the Coolmore Stud Stakes so it is great for him to get some experience down the straight this weekend heading into the Danehill [Stakes] in three weeks’ time.”
Kennwell will also be hoping that three-year-old filly Show Royale (Showtime) can bounce back from a disappointing first-up show in the Quezette Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) at Caulfield last month, when she tackles the Cap D’Antibes Stakes (Listed, 1100m) at Flemington.
In what was her first defeat in three career starts, having scored in a 1000-metre maiden on debut before landing the Cinderella Stakes (Listed, 1050m) at Morphettville in March, the daughter of Showtime (Snitzel) ran green before finishing ninth in the Quezette behind Charm Stone (I Am Invincible).
“She was a bit disappointing in the Quezette,” Kennewell said. “She had worked and trialled well coming into it and I was just disappointed with the fact she raced so green.
“Mark Zahra [jockey] said she raced as if it was her first start, which surprised us as we were bullish for a nice run. However, since then we’ve cleared that out of our heads and everything seems in great order.”
A much better run is expected this weekend, with Kennwell turning for the first time to blinkers in order to keep the filly concentrated.
“She has the addition of blinkers this weekend and she worked very strongly in those this morning,” he said. “I’d be hoping she can handle the straight track and produce a nice turnaround.”
Show Royale also holds nominations for two other races on Saturday, with the filly holding nominations for the Robert Cram Sprint (1100m) just one race later on Flemington’s card, while also having an entry in the WH Wylie Handicap (Listed, 1100m) at Morphettville, where she would face the older horses.
“She’ll go to the Cap D’Antibes at Flemington for sure,” Kennewell said.
“We don’t want to put her to the sword early on by taking on the older horses at Morphettville, so we will stick to her age group and see where we go from there.”
Purchased by Kennewell for $85,000 in conjunction with Group 1 Bloodstock and Ridgeport Holdings at last year’s Highway Session of the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, the Cranbourne-based co-trainer has always had a soft spot for the daughter of the Royal Academy (Nijinsky) mare Ducey Du.
“I loved her as a yearling and she’s obviously worth a few dollars now being a stakes-winning filly already,” Kennewell said.
“She’s a natural and she is one that will make her own destiny, especially after this weekend’s race.”
Another colt aiming to showcase his Coolmore Stud Stakes credentials in this weekend’s Poseidon Stakes is the Mark and Levi Kavanagh-trained Lakota Fire (Sioux Nation).
Having finished a four-lengths third on his debut over 1100 metres at Werribee in June, the son of former Swettenham Stud shuttler Sioux Nation (Scat Daddy) has not looked back since that effort, registering a pair of wins over the 1000-metre trip at Morphettville and most recently at Moonee Valley on August 12.
The colt will now take the step back up to 1100 metres as he makes a first dive into stakes company this weekend.
“It’ll be interesting to see how he runs down the straight, he’s won two out of three so far and is a progressive colt, so hopefully he measures up,” Mark Kavangh told ANZ Bloodstock News.
Kavanagh went to $210,000 to secure the colt, who is out of the winning Machiavellian (Mr Prospector) mare Firemaid making him a half-brother to the 2015 Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) winner Shamal Wind (Dubawi).
“He’s a half-brother to a Group 1 winner and he was a nice racey sort of colt, so I thought he was worth the risk for his price tag,” Kavanagh said.
“We’ve got to see how he measures up here before deciding on anything else. He got beat in a bog track on his first start and I’m handling him very gently. He will tell us how far he can go, he may very well be an autumn horse.”
The Flemington-based co-trainer will also have Undaunting, a three-year-old filly by Cambridge Stud shuttler Almanzor (Wootton Bassett), make her debut in a 1300-metre maiden plate at Sandown-Lakeside today.
“She’s won two trials but they’ve been in slow times,” Kavanagh said. “She’s a horse that will be looking for 2500 metres in time. She has a chance but lacks raceday experience. She is a lovely filly that still has some growing to do.”