Yarraman Park increases ownership of promising unbeaten colt Nettuno
Talented Group 3-winning son of champion sire I Am Invincible wins Doomben trial ahead of spring
Yarraman Park has moved to shore up its position in unbeaten I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) colt Nettuno by increasing its percentage of ownership in the new season three-year-old ahead of a pivotal spring campaign which is likely to determine his future on and off the track.
The Tony Gollan-trained Nettuno, a son of Yarraman Park’s reigning champion sire and a paternal half-brother to the promising stallion Hellbent, made a low key public appearance with a barrier trial win over 840 metres in Queensland yesterday ahead of interstate goals which stud principals Arthur and Harry Mitchell hope encompass “stallion-making” Group 1 races.
Bred and sold by Yarraman Park, Nettuno was sent for a spell after he won the Ken Russell Memorial (Gr 3, 1200m) on the Gold Coast on May 7 – defeating subsequent J J Atkins Plate (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Sheeza Belter (Gold Standard) and Sydney winner Midnight In Tokyo (Koyayashi) for his third victory in as many starts – with a view of concentrating on the Sydney and the Melbourne carnivals to enhance the CV of the exciting colt.
“Nettuno is one who we owned a bit of and we’ve bought a bit more of him now. Fingers crossed for him, he’s a promising horse at this stage,” Yarraman Park’s Arthur Mitchell confirmed to ANZ Bloodstock News earlier this week.
“We believe (he can measure up in better races) and I know Tony Gollan likes him a lot.
“It was a heavy track when he won the Group race at the Gold Coast, but we think he’ll be better on top of the ground.
“We are hoping he can measure up in Sydney and hopefully in Melbourne. He’s a good looking horse and a good natured horse, so we’ve got our fingers crossed.
“We hope we’ve pulled the right rein.”
A winner of his first two starts by a combined nine lengths, at the Sunshine Coast in March and at Doomben in April, Nettuno is out of Queensland Group 3-winning Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) mare Saint Minerva, making him a half-brother to the Hong Kong winner and stakes-placed Cheerful Days (Smart Missile).
He was purchased for $500,000 by Gollan, agent John Foote and Black Soil Bloodstock at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale from the Yarraman Park draft. Segenhoe Thoroughbreds’ Kevin Maloney, whose red with yellow seams and cap the horse wears, also bought into Nettuno, while the Mitchell brothers and the horse’s fellow breeders Elwyn and Joanne Rea retained a share in the colt.
Ridden by regular jockey Ryan Maloney in the Doomben three-year-old open barrier trial, Nettuno overraced early back in the six-horse field, but he finished off strongly to score by a head over Fit And Proper (Love Conquers All) and Clairvue Molly (Sizzling), herself a debut winner at the Sunshine Coast in April for Gollan.
Among a host of Gollan-trained horses trialling yesterday, Nettuno stopped the clock at 51.12 seconds, running his last 600 metres in 35.04 seconds, over 840 metres on the Soft 5 surface.
Maloney suggested Nettuno had “certainly come on mentally and physically” since his two-year-old campaign.
“The main objective was to just get him to switch off and get some cover and ride him with a sit, where he used to begin like a bull out of a gate and want to overdo it, but he came back straight underneath me straight away,” Maloney told the Brisbane Racing Club after Nettuno’s trial.
“They did slow up quite considerably and he got his head up a little bit, but I am not concerned because obviously race pace is going to take that out of the equation. He was first-up and quite fresh.
“Last time around I don’t think I would have been able to do that whereas today I was. There’s plenty of improvement there, he looks good and I couldn’t fault him at all.”
I Am Invincible colt Home Affairs won last year’s Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) at Flemington on Derby Day to end his spring campaign, sending his value as a stallion prospect soaring, after starting his preparation in Sydney and connections will be hoping the stallion can go back-to-back this year courtesy of Nettuno.
The Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) on September 24 could also be on the agenda for the colt if he lives up to expectations early in his campaign.
“The idea is to bring him to Sydney and take it from there. Hopefully he’s trained on and, at this stage, there’s no reason to suggest that he hasn’t,” Mitchell said.
With I Am Invincible earning his first champion sire title in 2021-22 and Hellbent making a late surge in the first season sire ranks, a run which continued on the first day of the new season with his three-year-old Keitel scoring by a four-length margin at Pakenham on Monday for Mick Price and Mick Kent Jnr, the Mitchells are committed to ensuring the legacy of Yarraman Park’s flag bearer through the Stud Book continues in the years to come.
Buying a bigger percentage of Nettuno is part of the strategy, while the Mitchells decision to buy Hellbent in 2016 has also paid dividends, winning the 2018 William Reid Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) before retiring to the Hunter Valley farm later that year. He sired 12 first crop two-year-old winners last season, 11 in Australia and one in New Zealand, to finish runner-up by winners to Russian Revolution (Snitzel).
“Hellbent, again, I think he’s been hurt a lot by the wet tracks we’ve had in Sydney and Brisbane and everywhere else,” Mitchell said.
“I think a bit like Vinnie, they’re just going to get better at three. We are very confident that he will step up and be a decent stallion. He gets good types, the trainers like them, so we’ve got high hopes. He came home with a bit of a rush, so it is a good start.
“We’ve supported him heavily and he’s got a good syndicate behind him, so hopefully we can keep him rolling.”
The Mitchells also bought an interest last year in the gelded now four-year-old King Of Sparta, a sprinter trained by Peter and Paul Snowden, who won the $2 million Magic Millions 3YO Guineas (RL, 1400m) and the Bletchingly Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) last season. He is nominated for Saturday’s Aurie’s Star Handicap (Gr 3, 1200m) at Flemington.