Imperatriz Impeccable Season

WHAT A SEASON - IMPERATRIZ

1st - A$1,000,000 GROUP 1 William Reid Stakes - Moonee Valley, Melbourne - March 2023

1st - $300,000 GROUP 1 BCD Waikato Sprint - Te Rapa - February 2023

1st - $300,000 GROUP 1 Sistema Railway - Te Rapa - January 2023

1st - $180,000 GROUP 2 Westbury Classic - Pukekohe - January 2023

1st - $120,000 GROUP 2 Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate - Te Rapa - August 2022

2nd - A$600,000 GROUP 1 Canterbury Stakes - Royal Randwick, Sydney - March 2023 (nose)

Let's review this star mare's stellar season ... starting with Group 2 glory - and culminating in her Melbourne victory in the A$1 million William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley ...

Imperatriz (4 m I Am Invincible - Berimbau, by Shamardal) presented in magnificent order prior to destroying her rivals in the $120,000 Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate (Gr. 2, 1200m) on 27 August at Te Rapa.

The victory signaled the start of a mammoth season for the reigning Champion Three-Year-Old. 

It was her fifth win in a row, including the Levin Classic (Gr. 1, 1600m), and NZ Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (Gr. 1, 1600m) also at Te Rapa, after resuming her four-year-old season with a strong winning performance in the Open 1100 metres on 6 August at Ruakaka.

Suited by the weight-for-age scale, carrying 56.5kg with Opie Bosson aboard, Imperatriz was handily placed with cover before taking over on straightening and showed an incredible turn of foot to clear out by five and three-quarter lengths.

“She was a different horse today to the one at Ruakaka,” Bosson said. “As soon as she got on the track she was on the job and I could tell she was pumped up underneath me.

“Across the top all I wanted to do was let her go, she was going that good and when I released the brakes, man she can go.  It felt like we were on a good track, that's how quick she went, and I can't wait until she gets on better ground and I can hold her up for a bit longer. She could be even more explosive.”

Remaining unbeaten on the course, Imperatriz ran noticeably quicker than any other horse on the day, clocking 1:13.8 for 1200 metres, last 600m in 36.2, and drifted in betting to pay $2.20 & $1.30 on the NZ TAB tote.

Trainer Mark Walker said: “She galloped brilliantly on Tuesday and I said to Sam Bergerson (assistant trainer): I think we're ready and won't have to gallop her on Thursday, but when the track turns up like that (Heavy10) you do second-guess yourself a bit. But we got it right and she's a high-class mare.”

Purchased by David Ellis CNZM at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale 2020, from the draft of Bhima Thoroughbreds, owned by Te Akau Invincible Empress Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM), Imperatriz lives up to the empress title from which her name translates.

The Foxbridge Plate is named after Champion Stallion Foxbridge (Foxlaw), 11-time Leading Sire (1941-51 inclusive) in New Zealand. 

Te Akau had previously won the Foxbridge Plate in 2020 with Avantage (Fastnet Rock), following dual Horse of the Year Melody Belle (Commands) in 2018 - the pair winning 23 Group One races between them.

Four from four on the course and given a brilliant ride by Opie Bosson, Imperatriz (4 m I Am Invincible - Berimbau, by Shamardal) won the $300,000 Sistema Railway (Gr. 1, 1200m) on 1 January at Te Rapa.

Unbeaten in two starts as a two-year-old, Champion Three-Year-Old after Group One wins in the Levin Classic (Gr. 1, 1600m) and NZ Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (Gr. 1, 1600m), Imperatriz extended her record to 10 wins from 15 starts, and following Avantage (Fastnet Rock) and Entriviere (Tavistock) made it a hat-trick of Railway wins for the stable.

“It worked out perfectly,” said Bosson, following his 88^th Group One win. “I got a beautiful spot, was cruising turning in and didn't really have to spend a penny. But to Babylon Berlin's credit, she gave a good kick and I only just got her.

“Mark and the whole team have done an amazing job. I was scratching my head a little bit after her trial and thought she wasn't quite 100 percent, but she'd taken so much benefit out of that and Mark (Walker) rang me during the week and said she's flying in her track work. So that gave me enough confidence.”

Walker said: “It was a gun ride and proud to see the mare back, as well. I thought she travelled well throughout and it helped to have something to chase down the whole way up the straight, so pretty satisfying.

“I was amazed when I got back from Singapore, at the start (last April), we've got a great team of people and there are three or four people that would make great trainers in their own right and they will one day.

“When you've got Dave (Ellis) buying them, it makes it easier as well.”

Purchased by David Ellis CNZM at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale 2020, from the draft of Bhima Thoroughbreds, owned by Te Akau Invincible Empress Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM), Imperatriz lives up to the empress title from which her name translates.

Having won the Foxbridge Plate (Gr. 2, 1200m) in the first month of the season (August), Imperatriz followed the Railway with wins in the Westbury Classic (Gr. 2, 1400m), BCD Group Sprint (Gr. 1, 1400m), second in the Canterbury Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m) at Randwick (NSW), before culminating an outstanding season with victory in the William Reid Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m) at Moonee Valley, to rate highly as a Horse of the Year contender.

Recording her fifth Group One win, Imperatriz extended her record to 13 wins from 19 starts and prize money of $1,828,660.

Previous wins by Te Akau in the Railway (Gr. 1, 1200m):

2022 - Entriviere (Tavistock)

2021 - Avantage (Fastnet Rock)

Presented in pristine order and the shortest priced winner on the six-race Karaka Million card, Imperatriz (4 m I Am Invincible - Berimbau, by Shamardal) won the $180,000 Westbury Classic (Gr. 2, 1400m) on 21 January at Pukekohe.

In a way, Te Akau has made Karaka Million night their own in recent years, as Imperatriz was joined by winning stable-mates Maven Belle (Burgundy), the Champion Two-Year-Old taking out the Almanzor Trophy (Gr. 3, 1200m), while Tokyo Tycoon (Satono Aladdin) became their seventh consecutive winner of the Karaka Million 2YO (Restricted Listed, 1200m). 

Rider Opie Bosson gave Imperatriz a sweet trip, took over as she liked mid-straight and won comfortably by a neat length.  

“We got a beautiful run, cruised to them but she waited for them a little bit,” Bosson said. “She's got a lot of class and looked a big chance.”

On Good4 footing, she ran 1400 metres in 1:21.7, last 600m in 34.4, and paid $1.50. 

Purchased for $360,000 by David Ellis CNZM at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale 2020, from the draft of Bhima Thoroughbreds, Imperatriz is owned by Te Akau Invincible Empress Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM).

Having won the Foxbridge Plate (Gr. 2, 1200m) in the first month of the season (August), and the Railway (Gr. 1, 1200m) in early January, Imperatriz followed the Westbury Classic success by winning the BCD Group Sprint (Gr. 1, 1400m), finished second in the Canterbury Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m) at Randwick (NSW), before culminating an outstanding season with victory in the William Reid Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m) at Moonee Valley, to rate highly as a Horse of the Year contender.

Recording her fifth Group One win, Imperatriz extended her record to 13 wins from 19 starts and prize money of $1,828,660.

Reigning Champion Three-Year-Old Imperatriz (4 m I Am Invincible - Berimbau, by Shamardal) went to another level winning her fourth Group One race in the $300,000 BCD Group Sprint (Gr. 1, 1400m) on Legends Day (11 Feb.) at Te Rapa.

Her time (1:20.70) was the second fastest in the race, with Mrs Selleck (Famous Star) clocking 1:20.60 in 1992, while just outside the 1400-metre track record (1:20.42) set by Dopff (Tights) in 1993.

Imperatriz joined stable-mates Darci Brahma (Danehill), Avantage (Fastnet Rock), Melody Belle (Commands), Te Akau Shark (Rip Van Winkle), and Xtravagant (Pentire), to give Te Akau five wins in the past eight years.

Imperatriz had been running phenomenal times not just in recent races, but also in track work, and the team was confident of success despite it being a Group One. 

She had found plenty when running fastest last 600m (33.1) on the day to win the Sistema Railway (Gr. 1, 1200m) on 1 January at Te Rapa, and fastest again (33.8) winning the Westbury Classic (Gr. 2, 1400m) on 21 January at Pukekohe, while the win left her unbeaten in five starts on the course - all stakes races. 

As expected from barrier one, Imperatriz was able to box seat behind the leader but once rider Opie Bosson let the breaks go she sprinted clear (alongside a riderless horse) to win by four and half lengths, in a race where stable-mate and reigning Champion Two-Year-Old Maven Belle (Burgundy) finished fourth. 

“She was never going to get beaten,” said Bosson, who collected his 89^th Group One victory. “It felt like I was in a race by myself and there was no one near me or around me.

“It was over at the 600-metre mark, the splits just kept coming and I had a lapful of horse. 

“She just went through her gears and she's awesome to sit on. She's very, very good and when she's on her A-game there's not much that can beat her.

“It was a very good field and I'm just lucky David (Ellis) buys all these good horses for us to ride and it's a privilege to be a stable rider for them.  I'd like to thank the boss, David Ellis. He keeps me on the straight and narrow, keeps me fit, and I enjoy riding Group One winners to repay him.”

It had just been announced that Bosson would be inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame, and since then he received recognition for his outstanding achievements and services to thoroughbred racing in the King's Birthday Honours List, as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM). 

Purchased for $360,000 by David Ellis CNZM at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale 2020, from the draft of Bhima Thoroughbreds, Imperatriz is owned by Te Akau Invincible Empress Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM).

Having won the Foxbridge Plate (Gr. 2, 1200m) in the first month of the season (August), Railway (Gr. 1, 1200m), and Westbury Classic (Gr. 2, 1400m), Imperatriz followed the BCD Group Sprint success by finishing second in the Canterbury Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m) at Randwick (NSW), before culminating an outstanding season with victory in the William Reid Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m) at Moonee Valley, to rate highly as a Horse of the Year contender.

Recording her fifth Group One win, Imperatriz extended her record to 13 wins from 19 starts and prize money of $1,828,660.

Te Akau previous BCD Group Sprint (Gr. 1, 1400m) wins:

2021 - Avantage (Fastnet Rock)

2020 - Te Akau Shark (Rip Van Winkle) 

2019 - Melody Belle (Commands) 

2016 - Xtravagant (Pentire)

2007 - Darci Brahma (Danehill) 

The Champion Three-Year-Old last season, Imperatriz (4 m I Am Invincible - Berimbau, by Shamardal) reached the pinnacle with a brilliant victory in the $1m 3 Point Motors William Reid Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m) on 24 March at Moonee Valley. 

Exuding special qualities when unbeaten as a two-year-old, including the Eclipse Stakes (Gr. 2, 1200m), she won both the Levin Classic (Gr. 1, 1600m) and NZ Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (Gr. 1, 1600m) at three, and dominated again this season with victories in the Sistema Railway (Gr. 1, 1200m) and BCD Sprint (Gr. 1, 1400m). 

Understood to the utmost by nine-time Champion Trainer Mark Walker, who faced a tricky decision whether to step up in distance when heading to Australia, he opted for the Canterbury Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m) on 4 March at Randwick (NSW), in which she raced outside the leader before being claimed on the line, and dropped back in trip to beat some of the best sprinters in Australia.

Apart from a bump when looking to improve, Imperatriz was given a seamlessly perfect ride by Opie Bosson, and looming as she did rounding the home turn was the impetus for a powerful finish.  

It was the 90^th Group One success for Bosson and his first in Australia since a fantastic Group One double aboard former stable-mates Probabeel (Savabeel) and Te Akau Shark (Rip Van Winkle) in 2020 at Randwick. 

“She did it all for me and she's a wonderful mare,” Bosson said. “She's got an amazing turn of foot and can get herself out of trouble. 

“I'm privileged to ride these horses for Te Akau and David Ellis buys so many amazing horses.”

Recording her fifth Group One win, Imperatriz extended her record to 13 wins from 19 starts and prize money of $1,828,660.

Purchased for $360,000 by David Ellis CNZM at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale 2020, from the draft of Bhima Thoroughbreds, Imperatriz is owned by Te Akau Invincible Empress Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM).

“Winning the Karaka Million for the seventh time in a row is hard to beat as a highlight for the season, especially the way Tokyo Tycoon did it, but for this mare to win her fifth Group One and beat some very good sprinters in Australia is right up there,” Ellis said.

“It's an honour to do for a living what is both my hobby and passion, along with farming, and Karyn and I keep buying and selling horses because it's fun and we love to see the thrill our owners and staff get out of it.”

The efforts and enterprise exercised by Te Akau provide a lifeblood to New Zealand racing that is acknowledged widely, and horses like Gingernuts (Iffraaj), Melody Belle (Commands), Probabeel (Savabeel), Te Akau Shark (Rip Van Winkle), and Imperatriz have helped showcase the operation with Group One wins in Australia. 

“A lot of the owners in Imperatriz have invested again in yearlings we've bought at the sales this year, plus a lot of new owners as well,” said Ellis, who came out top purchaser for raw stakes winners to purchases ratio, and top purchaser of yearlings globally between 2015 - 2021, according to Horse Racing and Data Analytics.