Yarraman’s Vinnie is King after Sparta battles to win Bletchingly Stakes
I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) has completed his rags-to-riches rise to the pinnacle of Australian breeding as he all but secured a maiden sires’ premiership yesterday courtesy of a battling success in the Bletchingly Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Caulfield from his son King Of Sparta (3 g I Am Invincible – Octavia by Holy Roman Emperor), a horse who only remained in Australia due to the last-minute intervention of Yarraman Park supremos Harry and Arthur Mitchell.
The hard-fought victory for the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained King Of Sparta, aided by metropolitan success in Brisbane for another son of the stallion, sees I Am Invincible carry a lead of $532,663 over rival So You Think (High Chaparral) into the final weekend of the season. However, King Of Sparta, with prize-money in excess of $1.3 million since the turn of the year, could have been lost to I Am Invincible’s earnings haul, had the three-year-old switched to Hong Kong late in 2021 as originally planned.
The poignant success in the final Group race of the Australian season rewards an unwavering faith of the Mitchell brothers shown in not only a previously unruly King Of Sparta, but also in the remarkable rise to stardom of their stallion, who, bar an extraordinary turn of events, will be crowned champion sire next weekend.
“I Am Invincible has been there or thereabouts over numerous years and has done it the hard way. He’s been second four years in a row now, so to get it done is very satisfying. He’s done great things for our farm, there’s no doubt,” Harry Mitchell told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“The Newgate business model is stallions, so when King Of Sparta had to be gelded and they told us they were going to sell him to Hong Kong, we just felt he had a lot of upside as a racehorse, because he did so much wrong in his races but was still running second and third behind horses like Paulele.
“We matched the Hong Kong offer and left him here with Peter Snowden and we’ve been lucky enough to pull off a few big wins.
“I suppose you could say that [keeping him here] has won I Am Invincible the title, but that wasn’t the aim, we just felt he always had a lot of ability.”
King Of Sparta, who was bred and sold as a yearling by Yarraman for $700,000 to Newgate Farm and China Horse Club, prevailed in a duel to the line with Scallopini, a veteran son of Snitzel (Redoute’s), a stallion that has beaten I Am Invincible to the champion sire title in three of the last four years. The neck margin at the line and champion sire title it has afforded I Am Invincible, Mitchell hopes is reflective of a new order in Australian breeding and bloodstock.
The pair drew more than three lengths clear of Mariamia (Toronado) in third, as the deteriorating Soft 7 track proved no obstacle for King Of Sparta, despite connections’ fears it would.
The three-year-old has shown a growing maturity since being gelded, an ultimate gear change which aided his success in the $2 million Magic Millions Guineas (RL, 1400m) in January, and was evidenced here with a determination to repel the unyielding challenge of Scallopini.
“We were worried today with barrier one and the wet track, but he dealt with both those things very well,” Mitchell said. He identified the Aurie’s Star Handicap (Gr 3, 1200m) down the Flemington straight as the gelding’s likely next start.
“It’s incredible that I Am Invincible has won the title considering the wet weather that we’ve had [in Sydney]. We’re very lucky that a lot of his winners have come in Melbourne, where it’s been dry, because Sydney and Brisbane have been very challenging.
“Most of his progeny don’t like the wet ground, it’s certainly been a disadvantage to us, but it’s unbelievably exciting if we win it.”
Among I Am Invincible’s 17 individual stakes winners in Australia this season – a figure down on his extraordinary career high of 28 stakes winners in 2018/19 – is star colt Home Affairs, who settled into life at Coolmore’s stud at Jerrys Plains earlier this week.
Home Affairs is one of four individual Group 1 winners for I Am Invincible this season, the Coolmore-owned colt is joined by fellow Melbourne elite-level winner Marabi, Goodwood (Gr 1, 1200m) scorer Lombardo and dual New Zealand Group 1 winner Imperatriz, with just two stakes winners coming at Sydney metropolitan tracks.
Home Affairs won the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) in the spring and added the Lightning Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) in February, again down the Flemington straight, defeating champion sprinter Nature Strip (Nicconi), before an unsuccessful trip to Royal Ascot in June.
“He’s probably had his best year. He’s had four Group 1 winners and for Home Affairs to win the Coolmore so dominantly, and then beat Nature Strip, he’s obviously a massive stallion prospect for Coolmore, which is great for them. They buy a lot of yearlings and have been good supporters of I Am Invincible,” Mitchell said, who delivered a prediction that the best might yet be to come from I Am Invincible, as further crops from more elite mares filter through onto the racetrack in the coming years.
I Am Invincible, a winner of a Group 3 in South Australia during his racing career, stood his first four seasons at a lowly $11,000 (inc GST) before rising to $247,500 (inc GST) in 2019 – the highest in Australia, and a fee for which he will stand the upcoming 2022 breeding season.
“We’d love for him to be champion sire next year as well. What’s the future? He’s rising 18 but looks 13. We’ve got to keep getting nice fillies by him and protect and look after him,” Mitchell said.
“We’ve got one son (Hellbent) and we’re racing a son called Nettuno and he could be the next one. We’re not frightened to have sons of I Am Invincible, they seem to be going pretty well.
“I think his fillies are going to be great broodmares and he’s going to leave his legacy. We’ve had lots of legacies in Australia with Star Kingdom and Danehill, I’m not saying he’s in their echelon, but he’ll leave a fairly big mark.
“We’ve just been so lucky to get a fairly inexpensive horse who’s been so special. You don’t expect it with a horse that you buy and stand for $10,000, it’s things dreams are made of.”
Mitchell also reflected on the late-season success of I Am Invincible’s son and barnmate Hellbent, who has delivered eight winners in the past month alone to take his tally to 12 (11 in Australia) and close in on the current leading first season sire by winners Russian Revolution (Snitzel), who has 14 individual winners.
“He was slightly immature as a yearling,” Mitchell recalled of Hellbent. “He ran once at two and ran very well. But it’s been a great run the last month and they’re coming back better and better, which really augurs well for later on in life.
“We are seriously very excited for him. He’s going to have a full book and a better quality group of mares, so it’s all positive for him.”
Hellbent stands for a fee of $22,000 (inc GST) this year.