Widden purchase Coolmore runner-up I Am Unstoppable
Kennewell to target Lightning and Newmarket with three-year-old son of champion sire
Stakes-winning sprinter and Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m)-placed stallion prospect I Am Unstoppable (I Am Invincible) will stand at Widden at the conclusion of his racing career, but first his new owners will chase Group 1 glory in a bid to enhance his value which already stands in the multimillion dollar range.
Trainers Lloyd Kennewell and Lucy Yeomans have reached a deal with Widden to sell the talented three-year-old son of Australia’s dual champion sire to new connections as they plot an autumn preparation aimed at the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) and Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m).
Widden principal Antony Thompson yesterday revealed he’d attempted to strike a deal for I Am Unstoppable prior to the colt’s second placing behind fellow stallion prospect Ozzmosis (Zoustar) in the Coolmore, but nothing materialised, leading to the studmaster to resume talks over the past month with Kennewell and Group 1 Bloodstock’s Mathew Becker.
He described Widden’s latest stallion acquisition as “a real bull with serious strength, a quality head and great masculinity, plus he’s beautifully balanced and is everything you expect when you think of an exceptional I Am Invincible”.
“I actually made an offer on him before the Coolmore, which we couldn’t really get done, but I have always liked him and thought he was a really exciting horse,” Thompson told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“I was happy to try and buy him before the Coolmore and after the Coolmore as it turned out.
“I love the pedigree and he’s a smashing sort who is a stakes-winning two-year-old and he has developed into one of the best sprinting three-year-olds of his generation.
“I believe there’s good upside in him, so we are happy to step into him at this stage and we look forward to racing him on and seeing where he takes us.”
Unbeaten at two, scoring on debut win in Adelaide before taking out the Redoute’s Choice Stakes (Listed, 1200m) at Sandown, I Am Unstoppable was arguably a victim of circumstances during his spring preparation, finishing in the money in all four starts at stakes level against his own age.
He was third in the Vain Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) at Caulfield when resuming before exclusively racing at Flemington where he was runner-up in the Poseidon Stakes (Listed, 1100m), the Danehill Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) and last start in the Coolmore on November 4.
Kennewell and Becker negotiated the sale of I Am Unstoppable to Widden on behalf of the large syndicate who took a punt on the horse as a yearling.
“There was a lot of interest in the horse and if he’d won the Coolmore it obviously would have been a totally different story for the level money we would have been talking about, but we’re very happy with the deal that we’ve managed to achieve,” Kennewell told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“It was very straight-forward and Antony was terrific to deal with. There were 72 owners in the horse, so it was just a matter of Mat Becker and myself being in charge to get the deal done.”
Widden will make 20 of the 40-share syndicate available to clients with Thompson to manage the remainder of I Am Unstoppable’s racing career before he retires to stud.
A decision on whether I Am Unstoppable stands in the Hunter Valley or at Widden’s Victorian operation will be made in due course.
While left to rue what could have been after I Am Unstoppable got shuffled back when Cylinder (Exceed And Excel) weakened in the Coolmore, Kennewell has the utmost confidence that his horse can deliver at the highest level in his next preparation.
“He still ran second, beating a Slipper winner home [Shinzo] and now he’s got a home at stud. We’ve just got to get the ultimate success out of the way by winning a Group 1,” the trainer said.
“He’ll go to the Lightning for him first-up. Yes, it’s a very good race, but we’re not shirking the task nor shying away from anything.
“Obviously, we’ve got a lot of water to go under the bridge, but we want to kick off in that race because we know he goes very well up the straight at Flemington, and that will battle-harden him and have him ready to go for the Newmarket as his second-up run.”
While the terms of the deal are confidential – although Thompson confirmed it includes a significant number of lucrative “kickers” – the three-year-old has returned his original owners many times their initial $65,000 purchase price as a yearling.
Sold by Newgate Farm at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, the colt made what is now considered a paltry figure because he was deemed by veterinarians to have high-risk x-rays.
Kennewell said he had never had a problem with I Am Unstoppable from the time he entered the stable and Thompson yesterday confirmed Widden had the horse thoroughly vetted and that there was no evidence of the original so-called faults.
“Obviously, it’s well documented that he was high-risk in his x-rays as a yearling hence the reason he wasn’t bought by a colts syndicate. I know there was, however, a lot of interest in him at that stage,” the Widden principal said.
“Johnny Walker vetted him plenty of times as a yearling and he vetted him again for me the other day and he said it’s remarkable looking at him now.
“He’s so clean and just giving him that time, not pushing him as an early two-year-old, his x-rays have gone from high risk to low risk in no time at all.
“I guess it’s a poignant reminder coming into the yearling sales about the varying interpretations of x-rays at different times in a horse’s life.”
Kennewell added: “If he didn’t have that x-ray blemish I reckon he would have made at least ten times the money that he made, maybe more, as he’s a very good type as a yearling.
“Physically, he’s a strong horse, he’s got a lot of presence about him, he’s got a great head on him and he moves so well. Most importantly, as a colt, he’s professional, he’s got a very good brain on him.”
Bred by Belinda Bateman, I Am Unstoppable is the first foal out of her Gimcrack Stakes (Listed, 1000m) winning two-year-old Satin Slipper (Pierro) and a granddaughter of her family’s Silver Slipper Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) winning, Coolmore Stud Stakes-placed Satin Shoes (Flying Spur).
The colt’s third dam Star Satire (Volksraad) was also a Group 1 winner and claimed the title as New Zealand’s joint champion three-year-old sprinter in 2000-01.
I Am Untoppable is Widden’s second high-priced stallion purchase in little over a year with Thompson forking out about $15 million in October 2022 to buy Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) winner Jacquinot, the son of Rubick (Encosta De Lago), who is about to complete his maiden season at stud in the Hunter Valley.
Having started just six times, I Am Unstoppable could race on as a four-year-old if his autumn form warranted another season in training.
“Certainly there’s a $20 million carrot to race on with a nice sprinting horse as a four-year-old [and target The Everest],” Thompson said.
“If we think he’s up to that, we can certainly go there or there’s plenty of other nice races for four-year-old sprinters.
“The horse has certainly not been overtaxed and a lot of the I Am Invincibles have shown that they will keep improving with age, so I don’t see any issue there.
“If it’s in the syndicate’s best interests, we’d certainly consider it.”