Sutton in the clover
Dom Sutton has been busy at Magic Millions this week sourcing youngsters to bolster his burgeoning stable, and on Thursday he added a filly by I Am Invincible to his collection to go with a colt by the same sire he purchased in conjunction with Johnny McKeever on Wednesday.
Offered by Yarraman Park Stud, where the stallion resides, the filly was purchased alongside Byron Rogers for $560,000. Catalogued as Lot 499, the filly is the first foal out of Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m)-placed winner Impecunious (Sacred Falls).
Despite being the first produce out of the mare, Sutton said she wasn’t a typical first foal.
“He [Vinnie] needs no introduction as a sire, obviously, being champion sire in Australia and he’s highly desirable,” he said.
“[Impecunious] ran third in the Vinery, Group 1 race. She was a multiple stakes–performed horse and a very good horse. The filly is a first foal, but she didn’t look like a first foal at all.
“This filly is an absolute queen, she covered the ground very easily. She has a lovely temperament and with a page like that she holds quite a lot of residual value, so the guys that we bought her for, Simon [Chappell, owner], who’s wanting to build a broodmare band here, she sort of fit the bill, so he was willing to open up the shoulders a little bit for her.”
On Wednesday, the trainer added his first I Am Invincible to his stable when he went to $600,000 for the second foal out of the Group 2-winning mare Haut Brion Her (Zoustar).
Co-bred and consigned by Three Bridges Thoroughbreds, the colt’s brother, unraced and now named Beechworth, was bought by Waller and his bloodstock agent Guy Mulcaster for $725,000 at last year’s edition of the Gold Coast sale.
Given the mare’s credentials and the firepower of the stallion, Sutton admitted that he and McKeever thought the colt would be out of their reach, so was pleasantly surprised when the gavel fell in their favour.
“We thought he was out of our price range, obviously out of a very well–performed Group 2-winning mare who ran in races like The Everest, ran fifth beating some very, very high quality horses behind her. I have a close association with the farm, with Three Bridges and Toby [Liston, studmaster at Three Bridges] and also Gary Johnson,” said Sutton.
“I’ve kept an eye on the colt the whole way along and actually looked at him on the farm. He’s got a little bit of maturing to do, but they tend to be a bit like that. The Vinnies can be on the smaller side, so once he does fill into his frame, with a pedigree like that, he’s gonna hopefully be a serious race horse and it’s a stallion’s pedigree, so if he goes and wins a very good race then, that’s what you dream of.”
Sutton said he would give the youngster all the time he needs, believing it will pay off in spades in the longer term.
“I don’t think it’s the right thing to be pushing them when the time’s not right. So, we’ll give him all the time he needs, obviously, we’ll probably aim him towards the back end of his two-year-old career into his three-year-old career where he’ll really be hitting his straps and hopefully be running in some of those big races in the springtime,” he said.
On the colt’s owners, Sutton said: “Gary Johnson, the breeder stayed in for a massive chunk and the other guys that are involved are the boys that have been buying the other horses that I’ve been posting here and they really want to make their presence known in Australia and buy high quality horses. So, when this opportunity came up, they jumped at it. A few of my really good loyal clients also jumped in and have taken shares as well.”
Having had his first runner in March last year after a long stint working for the Corstens, Sutton has built his stable up in relatively quick time and said both Rogers and McKeever have played integral roles in helping him establish his stable, which now includes 25 boxes at Flemington.
“Byron and Johnny [McKeever] have been a big part of it all since the get go. To both of their experience and knowledge, being a new person coming in as a trainer, they’ve been able to guide me in the right direction,” Sutton said.
“It’s important to have trust when you’re spending this type of money on horses. So, I fully trust Johnny and he’s got our best interests at heart and vice versa, it seems to be a really good fit and obviously being in the UK, he’s got a good understanding on stuff like the tried market as well with the horses in training, which we are active at the last few years. We’ve had a really good record so far, so hopefully it keeps going.
“We’ve got 33 in work. We’ve just taken on Flemington as a new base. We’ve been granted 25 boxes there, so we’ve expanded again. It’s all happened fairly quickly, but we always had our eyes on the training at Flemington, and it’s why I spent my last nine years doing my apprenticeship as an assistant trainer, so I know the facilities very well.
“I don’t take it for granted whatsoever. I’m extremely fortunate to be in this position, to be able to put my hand up for high quality horses and have the trust of people to do that. It’s a great honour in many ways to be able to have horses like this in the stable.”
Sutton was propelled into the big time when his first winner Feroce (Super Seth) finished second, beaten 0.2 lengths by Private Life (Written Tycoon), in the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) and the trainer gave an update on the gelding as he prepares for his autumn campaign.
“Big preparation ahead for him [Feroce]. He’s obviously been the flag bearer for us,” said Sutton. “We bought him this time last year and what he did in his first 12 months was pretty big. He nearly won a million in prize–money, ran second in a Caulfield Guineas, beaten a nose, just getting pipped by Chris Waller’s, but it wasn’t to be.
“He’s gonna stay in Australia, he’s got a big plan ahead of him. He’ll go down the Australian Guineas route and there’s a bundle of races that we can aim in, obviously the Guineas up at Randwick and Rosehill that we can look at as well. I’ve also got him in the All Star Mile if he was able to gain a spot and a race like that as well. He’s a proper horse. I think he’s matured again, which he probably needs to do, to go to weight-for-age races, but he is a proper horse.
“I think he’s a horse that will appreciate ten furlongs. I’ve been saying it since the get go. He’s that style of horse. He’s just got to learn to sort of harness himself a little bit early in his races. But that might be a bridge we cross this prep.”
Alongside the two yearlings by I Am Invincible, Sutton also paired up with Rogers to purchase a colt by So You Think (High Chaparral) for $275,000, while he and McKeever teamed up to buy a son of Street Boss (Street Cry) for $160,000.