NZB Ready To Run Sale 2024
Lot 13 Savabeel (AUS) – Jolie Blonde (AUS) Bay Gelding
$330,000.00
55% Available
Lot 174 I Am Invincible (AUS) – Shillelagh (NZ), Brown Colt
NZB Ready To Run Sale 2024
Description
Lot 174 br. c. I Am Invincible – Shillelagh (Savabeel) $1,650,000 (draft: Kiltannon Stables)
An eye-catcher and stunner, the likes that is rarely seen in any sales ring, it was no surprise that spirited bidding took place before the colt was knocked down to David Ellis CNZM for a Australasian Ready to Run Sale record.
The colt is by Australian Champion Sire for the past three years I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), sire of Te Akau star Imperatriz, winner of 10 Group One races and reigning Australian Sprinter of the Year that sold for a Southern Hemisphere record $6.6m in May this year.
Te Akau also had firsthand knowledge of the dam, Shillelagh, having trained her to win four races from six starts before breeder/owner Christopher Grace QSM, who also bred this colt, sent her to trainer Chris Waller in Australia, where won two Group One races among a total of eight wins.
Shillelagh is the fifth Savabeel (Zabeel) foal from the mare Trocair, by Golden Slipper (Gr. 1, 1200m) winner Flying Spur (Danehill), after the first foaling produced Brisbane Cup (Gr. 2, 2400m) winner Tullamore [$827,000 in stakes], and Ellis also purchased year younger sister, Grazia, a stakes winner over 2000 metres among four victories.
Adding to his attributes, the colt also breezed up in the fastest time (9.97) of any sale entrants, in October at Te Rapa.
Alert, balanced, pristine in the coat, and impeccable in every respect, the colt has bloodline crosses to both Danzig and Sir Ivor, the sire of Sir Tristram.
“Mark Walker is an absolute genius at assessing these horses in their breeze ups and he’s given me some really good advice, as Jamie Richards did before Mark, while Mark was training for us in Singapore,” Ellis said.
“We’ve had a lot of success buying at the Ready to Run Sale, with quite a few Group One winners, and as soon as saw this colt I said to myself that if he breezes up well then he’s a colt I’m going to buy.
“I went to the Mitchell’s at Yarraman Park, where the sire stands, and they said he was the nicest I Am Invincible colt they’d ever seen – and they see them all – so what better recommendation can you have and they do the job as well as any breeders in the world.
“We’re lucky to have trainers that know how to train horses by I Am Invincible, given Imperatriz and the Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m) winning colt Move To Strike.
“Our trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson run such a good business, it enables me to get clients and friends in to invest in these sorts of horses.
“He’s a very impressive colt and I haven’t ever seen a colt of this quality at the Ready to Run Sale.”
Ellis said the colt would be educated in New Zealand, prepped at the stables in Matamata, and assessed with a view to going to the Te Akau stables at Cranbourne.
“I was a little bit on toe during the auction because I really wanted to take this colt home and our racing manager Reece Trumper, Mark Walker, and Marcus Corban, who look at the horses with me all loved the colt too,” Ellis said.
“We loved the way he settled in up here (Karaka), he vetted out beautifully, and we’re honoured, really, to take this beautiful colt home for our owners.
“Karyn (Fenton-Ellis MNZM) was sitting right behind me and she said to me: “if you really, really, like this horse, don’t be beaten. And she’s a very astute person and a big part of the success of Te Akau, along with Mark Walker who is a partner with me in Te Akau Racing.”
Pricing of shares includes sale expenses, pedigree analysis and research at cost, and full veterinary and x-ray examinations. Insurance added.
An eye-catcher and stunner, the likes that is rarely seen in any sales ring, it was no surprise that spirited bidding took place before the colt was knocked down to David Ellis CNZM for a Australasian Ready to Run Sale record.
The colt is by Australian Champion Sire for the past three years I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), sire of Te Akau star Imperatriz, winner of 10 Group One races and reigning Australian Sprinter of the Year that sold for a Southern Hemisphere record $6.6m in May this year.
Te Akau also had firsthand knowledge of the dam, Shillelagh, having trained her to win four races from six starts before breeder/owner Christopher Grace QSM, who also bred this colt, sent her to trainer Chris Waller in Australia, where won two Group One races among a total of eight wins.
Shillelagh is the fifth Savabeel (Zabeel) foal from the mare Trocair, by Golden Slipper (Gr. 1, 1200m) winner Flying Spur (Danehill), after the first foaling produced Brisbane Cup (Gr. 2, 2400m) winner Tullamore [$827,000 in stakes], and Ellis also purchased year younger sister, Grazia, a stakes winner over 2000 metres among four victories.
Adding to his attributes, the colt also breezed up in the fastest time (9.97) of any sale entrants, in October at Te Rapa.
Alert, balanced, pristine in the coat, and impeccable in every respect, the colt has bloodline crosses to both Danzig and Sir Ivor, the sire of Sir Tristram.
“Mark Walker is an absolute genius at assessing these horses in their breeze ups and he’s given me some really good advice, as Jamie Richards did before Mark, while Mark was training for us in Singapore,” Ellis said.
“We’ve had a lot of success buying at the Ready to Run Sale, with quite a few Group One winners, and as soon as saw this colt I said to myself that if he breezes up well then he’s a colt I’m going to buy.
“I went to the Mitchell’s at Yarraman Park, where the sire stands, and they said he was the nicest I Am Invincible colt they’d ever seen – and they see them all – so what better recommendation can you have and they do the job as well as any breeders in the world.
“We’re lucky to have trainers that know how to train horses by I Am Invincible, given Imperatriz and the Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m) winning colt Move To Strike.
“Our trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson run such a good business, it enables me to get clients and friends in to invest in these sorts of horses.
“He’s a very impressive colt and I haven’t ever seen a colt of this quality at the Ready to Run Sale.”
Ellis said the colt would be educated in New Zealand, prepped at the stables in Matamata, and assessed with a view to going to the Te Akau stables at Cranbourne.
“I was a little bit on toe during the auction because I really wanted to take this colt home and our racing manager Reece Trumper, Mark Walker, and Marcus Corban, who look at the horses with me all loved the colt too,” Ellis said.
“We loved the way he settled in up here (Karaka), he vetted out beautifully, and we’re honoured, really, to take this beautiful colt home for our owners.
“Karyn (Fenton-Ellis MNZM) was sitting right behind me and she said to me: “if you really, really, like this horse, don’t be beaten. And she’s a very astute person and a big part of the success of Te Akau, along with Mark Walker who is a partner with me in Te Akau Racing.”
Pricing of shares includes sale expenses, pedigree analysis and research at cost, and full veterinary and x-ray examinations. Insurance added.
