David Ellis knows a thing or two about champion sire I Am Invincible and has bought and raced his champion sprinting mare Imperatriz and his only Group I winning juvenile colt in Move to Strike and the Te Akau boss liked what he saw at the NZB Ready to Run Sale on Wednesday where he paid $1.65million for the much hyped colt from Shillelagh.
Consigned by Kiltannon Stables, the colt put himself in the spotlight when producing an exceptional breeze to gallop out a furlong in 9.97 seconds to be the fastest horse in the sale.
The colt was passed in shy of his $420,000 reserve at Inglis Easter this year when consigned by Segenhoe, but had no trouble finding a buyer this time around.
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The crowd swelled significantly ahead of the striking youngster’s arrival, and after starting at $200,000, bids were quickly being fired in from three corners of the auditorium.
Ellis appeared to be on the back foot on multiple occasions over a tense next few minutes, but he summoned another couple of $50,000 bids late in the piece to secure the prized colt.
“The fact that we trained Shillelagh for Christopher and Susanna Grace makes this quite special for Te Akau, but the simple fact is that I thought he was easily the nicest colt I’ve ever seen at the Ready to Run Sale,” Ellis said.
“I was on the toe the whole time he was in the ring, because I really wanted to take this horse home. At one stage my wife Karyn (Fenton-Ellis) said to me, ‘If you really, really like this colt, don’t be beaten.’ That gave me the confidence to put in those last couple of bids.
“I saw the colt when he was in Sydney as a yearling, but things weren’t quite 100 per cent with him at that stage. They took him home and turned him out, and he’s just gone to the next level since then.”
Ellis has enormous regard for I Am Invincible, who sired the stable’s 10-time Group One winner Imperatriz and Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) winner Move To Strike.
“He’s one of the very best stallions we’ve got in this part of the world,” Ellis said. “We’ve obviously had the likes of Imperatriz and Move To Strike in our stable, so he’s a sire that works so well for Te Akau.
“Harry and Bill Mitchell, who stand I Am Invincible at Yarraman Park, said to me that this is as nice an I Am Invincible colt as they’ve seen, and they’re going to be taking a share.”
The colt’s appeal grew even higher in last month’s breeze-ups at Te Rapa, where he made an enormous impression.
“The breeze-ups are Mark Walker’s area of expertise, he’s an absolute genius,” Ellis said. “He said he hasn’t seen a two-year-old work the way he did for a long time.
“Christopher and Susanna Grace are among the best breeders in New Zealand, they’ve been breeding such top-quality horses for a number of years and their results speak for themselves. All of us at Te Akau Racing are just honoured to be taking this magnificent colt home.
“He’s likely to enter our system here in New Zealand, where he might be set for something like the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes, and then he could join our Australian stable further down the track.”
The record breaking colt is the third foal of dual Group I winning Savabeel mare Shillelagh, whose first foal is Group III placed I Am Invincible mare Irish Legacy and her second is another three year-old filly by I Am Invincible called Kilkenny, who made her debut at Canterbury in a maiden race on Wednesday finishing unplaced.
Shillelagh has no yearling for the sales in 2025, but has foaled this spring producing a filly by Snitzel.
