Unwala hedges bets with colts portfolio headlined by Inglis Sires contender Warby
Hellbent juvenile to take his place on likely rain-sodden Randwick in juvenile Group 1
When agent Suman Hedge teamed up with trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace on the Gold Coast last year to buy a colt by first season sire Hellbent (I Am Invincible), fellow agent Jimmy Unwala had no hesitation in immediately taking a share in the young horse.
Close enough to three months after buying him for $300,000, which was above the Magic Millions sale average, the horse, who later became known as Warby, would be subject to an major pedigree update when his half-brother Captivant (Capitalist) landed the ATC Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m).
And now, almost another year on, Warby is out to make his own name.
The two-year-old colt caught the eye with a barrier trial win in mid-February at Warwick Farm and, as an $11 chance in the Black Opal Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) on debut, he garnered many people’s attention with his closing last to second behind winner Queen Of The Ball (I Am Invincible) in the Group 3.
On Saturday, Warby will contest the Inglis Sires’ (Gr 1, 1400m) at Randwick, a race where he will clash with Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Fireburn (Rebel Dane).
“When I saw him at the sales he was a really nice sort. I inspected most of the yearlings at Magic Millions and he just looked like a runner,” Avesta Bloodstock’s Jimmy Unwala said yesterday.
“I thought he was in the top five per cent of the yearlings in the sale on type. Suman bought him and I took a small percentage, Gary (Diamond of G1G Racing and Breeding) took a small percentage and one of my other friends (Peter Mullen) took a small percentage, so that’s how it came about.”
Unwala, like most, was taken by Warby’s debut performance.
“He did more in losing the race, if you know what I mean, because then everyone spoke about the race and the horse,” he said.
“That filly who beat him (Queen Of The Ball), she ran eighth in the Slipper, so it is not the worst form.”
With the prospect of a rain-soaked Randwick track (which was rated a Heavy 10 yesterday), and more wet weather on the way, Unwala remains understandably circumspect about Warby’s ability to handle the testing surface in the Sires on Saturday.
“From my perspective, I know the I Am Invincibles don’t really like the heavy going,” the well-travelled agent said.
“History says that with the stallion, but his son Hellbent’s progeny, they might like the heavy. I don’t know, but I hope they do.
“However, you just can’t be confident what’s going to happen. There’s so many variables when you have heavy tracks.”
Warby is one of a number of colts Avesta Bloodstock and its clients have an interest in – Profiteer (Capitalist) and Artorius (Flying Artie) are the highest profile – and Unwala, thus far, is pleased with the approach he has taken to sourcing young horses.
“What we did at Magic Millions last year was we took five and ten per cent across about 15 colts,” he said.
“If you get one decent one, like this horse Warby, it can really pay for itself. That is the plan, go to the sale, look at everything and try and get shares across ten or 15 nice colts and hope that one of them becomes a good stallion prospect.”
The quick upgrade to Warby’s value at the time, courtesy of the Newgate Farm-China Horse Club colts partnership-owned colt Captivant, was a welcome one.
“When Warby was bought, Captivant was stakes-placed, he hadn’t won the Group 1. We got the pedigree update after we bought the horse, so that was good for us,” Unwala says.
There won’t be anything hidden, though, when Warby’s brother, also bred by Ashleigh Thoroughbreds’ Senga Bissett, is offered at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale next Wednesday.
The fourth foal out of Speedboat (Commands), Warby’s Hellbent brother is being consigned on Bissett’s behalf by Yarraman Park Stud as Lot 440.
With the Easter sale upon us, Unwala will be one of many agents at Riverside Stables attempting to find the next racetrack star.
While Warby and another promising Avesta Bloodstock part-owned two-year-old colt in the Toby and Trent Edmonds-trained debut Ipswich winner Jamaican Rumba (Shalaa) have Unwala excited, the agent’s immediate focus will be on fillies at next week’s sale.
“At the end of the day, I am someone who has a breeding mentality, so what I am looking for is something that is well bred that I can find in the right price bracket,” he said.
“Even if she (potential yearling purchase) never races, her value doesn’t depreciate a lot from what I paid for her as a yearling and eventually she will go into the broodmare band.”