Ellis raises the roof to buy Vinnie colt for a record NZ$1.65 million
Juvenile the headline act as records topple at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready To Run Sale
Te Akau’s David Ellis described the I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) juvenile out of dual Group 1 winner Shillelagh (Savabeel) ‘the nicest colt he’d seen at the Ready To Run Sale’ and he showed his admiration for the youngster when stretching to an Australasian record of NZ$1.65 million to secure the Kiltannon Stables offering during the first session of the New Zealand Bloodstock (NZB) auction on Wednesday.
The previous southern hemisphere record for a two-year-old at auction was delivered at the Inglis Ready2Run Sale last month when a Written Tycoon (Iglesia) filly wrote her way into the history books when Yulong forked out a cool $1 million to secure her.
However, that new record looked likely to be short lived when the well-bred Vinnie colt posted the fastest breeze ahead of the NZB sale, clocking an electric time of 9.97 seconds, making him the only horse among the 404-strong offering to go under the ten second barrier and, late in the afternoon on Wednesday, the colt very much delivered on that promise.
Ellis is known for his significant fire power, but even he appeared on the ropes at times during the fierce bidding battle, where he traded blows with Sha Tin-based trainer Cody Mo, his agent Denys Chan and Hong Kong-based owner Kin Man Yeung, eventually landing the winning seven-figure blow, which was enough to keep Mo and Chan at bay.
“I was on the toe the whole time he was in the ring, because I really wanted to take this horse home. At one stage my wife Karyn [Fenton-Ellis] said to me, ‘If you really, really like this colt, don’t be beaten.’ That gave me the confidence to put in those last couple of bids,” said Ellis.
Shillelagh was trained by Te Akau’s former trainer Jamie Richards to win four of her six starts in New Zealand for owner/breeders Christopher and Susanna Grace and Ellis said that made the result extra special.
“The fact that we trained Shillelagh for Christopher and Susanna Grace makes this quite special for Te Akau, but the simple fact is that I thought he was easily the nicest colt I’ve ever seen at the Ready To Run Sale,” he said.
Shillelagh later crossed the Tasman and joined the stable of Chris Waller, for whom she won four races including the 2017 Cantala Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) and the following year’s Empire Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m).
The daughter of Savabeel (Zabeel) has made a good start to her career as a broodmare, having already produced a winner in the shape of Irish Legacy (I Am Invincible), who has also been placed at Group 3 level in New Zealand.
However, this striking youngster found himself at the Ready To Run Sale after he failed to meet his $420,000 reserve when offered by Segenhoe Stud at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale earlier in the year, which is where Ellis first clapped eyes on him.
“I saw the colt when he was in Sydney as a yearling, but things weren’t quite 100 per cent with him at that stage. They took him home and turned him out, and he’s just gone to the next level since then,” he said.
The Te Akau supremo has enjoyed enormous success with the progeny of I Am Invincible, perhaps most famously through the exploits of Imperatriz, who landed nine Group 1s in the operation’s iconic tangerine silks. Meanwhile, Te Akau also race Vinnie’s son Move To Strike, winner of last season’s Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) and Ellis said Wednesday’s sale-topping colt could have that same autumn Group 1 on his agenda.
“He’s one of the very best stallions we’ve got in this part of the world,” he said. “We’ve obviously had the likes of Imperatriz and Move To Strike in our stable, so he’s a sire that works so well for Te Akau.
“Harry and Bill Mitchell, who stand I Am Invincible at Yarraman Park, said to me that this is as nice an I Am Invincible colt as they’ve seen, and they’re going to be taking a share.
“The breeze-ups are Mark Walker’s area of expertise, he’s an absolute genius. He said he hasn’t seen a two-year-old work the way he did for a long time.
“Christopher and Susanna Grace are among the best breeders in New Zealand, they’ve been breeding such top-quality horses for a number of years and their results speak for themselves. All of us at Te Akau Racing are just honoured to be taking this magnificent colt home.
“He’s likely to enter our system here in New Zealand, where he might be set for something like the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes, and then he could join our Australian stable further down the track.”
The colt was consigned by Mark and Lorraine Forbes’s Kiltannon Stables and the latter was overcome with emotion when the two-year-old left the ring, having smashed the sale’s previous record of NZ$825,000 which was set by last year’s top-lot, who is now better known as Oxlade Stakes (Listed, 1300m) winner Megastar Heart (Star Turn).
“He was enormously popular, so there is not much surprise that he would sell very well but NZ$1.65 million was considerably more than we expected,” Forbes told ANZ Bloodstock News. “We were honoured to put the colt through on behalf of Chris [Grace] who has put so much into our industry. So, we are pleased that he got such a result and that we were part of it.
“He’s been such a pleasure to prepare, he’s got such a cool nature and it’s so good to see him go to Te Akau so we can watch him race which is even more exciting.”
The colt has champion stallions on both sides of his pedigree being by I Am Invincible, who was crowned Australia’s champion sire for a third time last season, while he is out of a daughter of Waikato’s New Zealand’s nine-time and reigning champion stallion Savabeel. He is also bred on the same cross as six winners from ten runners and they are headed by the 2023 Lonhro Plate (Listed, 1000m) scorer Madeira Sunrise.