breednet.com.au

A Maiden Stakes Success and In Foal to Vinnie - it doesn't get much better than that

Mark Smith - Saturday November 28

The temptation would be to keep a mare in foal to I Am Invincible wrapped in cotton wool however Sledmere Stud's Catriona and Royston Murphy had some unfinished business with the Exceed And Excel mare Invictus Salute.

Valuable maiden stakes success for Invictus Salute (Steve Hart)

Purchased privately off her breeders and previous owners Geoff and Mary Grimmish, Invictus Salute had placed in two of her last eight starts at stakes level. But the catalogue page received a significant update on Saturday when Invictus Salute captured the Listed Schweppes Starlight Stakes.

Ridden by the unstoppable Rachel King for trainer mark Newnham, Invictus Salute stayed on strongly to defeat the front-running Spaceboy (Deep Field) by a short-neck with Viridine (Poet's Voice) three-quarter of a length back in third.

"That was really satisfying," Newnham told AAP.

"A bit like Greysful (Glamour), a couple of mares I've had pretty much since I started training."

"To have them both win stakes races on the same day is very, very satisfying.

"That'll probably be her last start now.

"She's in foal to I Am Invincible, so we've added value to her and her offspring."

Advertisement

Passed in when failing to make her $600,000 reserve when offered by Kitchwin Hills at the 2017 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Invictus Salute advances her record to six wins, five seconds and three thirds from 23 starts with earnings of $515,305.

Sledmre consigned the daughter of Exceed And Excel to the 2020 Inglis Chairman's Sale where she was passed in at $800,00.

A half-sister to Group II winner Splintex (Snitzel) and the stakes-placegetter Aquime (Sepoy), Invictus Salute is a daughter of the top-class racemare Acquired (O'Reilly).  

A multiple Group placed winner of seven races, Acquired is a sister to the stakes-placed Procurement and a half-sister to the Group II Reisling Stakes winner Hips Don't Lie who is the dam of Listed winner and Group 1 Golden Slipper third Lake Geneva and Group III winner Ennis Hill.

Acquired has not had the best of luck in recent years.

She missed in 2017 and her 2018 Not A Single Doubt filly died after birth. But there was a bit of blue sky this year when Acquired foaled a colt by The Autumn Sun on October 12.

Invictus Salute becomes the 179th stakes-winner for Darley Stud's flagship stallion Exceed And Excel.

Advertisment

Race Result - Starlight Stakes LR 1100m

Rosehill Track: Good(4) Time: 1:03.13
1
Invictus Salute
- 5m Exceed And Excel (AUS) x Acquired (NZ) (O'Reilly (NZ))
Tnr: Mark Newnham Rdr: Rachel King 53
2
0.2
Spaceboy
- 4g Deep Field (AUS) x Miatoko (AUS) (Danzero (AUS))
Tnr: G Portelli Rdr: Ms K O'Hara 53
3
1.0
Viridine
- 6g Poet's Voice (GB) x Patina (AUS) (Anabaa (USA))
Tnr: James Cummings Rdr: J Bowman 61
4
1.1
Inanup
- 7g Bon Hoffa (AUS) x Our Slew (AUS) (Gilded Time (USA))
Tnr: J M Austin Rdr: J Ford 53
5
2.0
Passage Of Time
- 7g Northern Meteor (AUS) x Crystal Gauntlet (AUS) (Marscay (AUS))
Tnr: Joseph Pride Rdr: B Avdulla 56
6
3.8
Varda
- 4m Lonhro (AUS) x Wild Queen (AUS) (Loup Sauvage (USA))
Tnr: James Cummings Rdr: K Mc Evoy 53
7
4.0
Easy Eddie
- 6g Super Easy (NZ) x Twin Town (GB) (Halling (USA))
Tnr: Joseph Pride Rdr: R Dolan 58.5
8
4.1
Snitz
- 6g Snitzel (AUS) x Tickle My (AUS) (Perugino (USA))
Tnr: M J Dunn Rdr: N Rawiller 57
9
6.5
Glenall
- 7g Redoute's Choice (AUS) x Our Quivira (NZ) (Spinning World (USA))
Tnr: John W Ramsey Rdr: G Schofield 54
More Reading...
$1.25 Million Invincible Filly to Waller Racing
Champion sire I Am invincible has produced a filly to sell for a million or more on each of the three days of Magic Millions so far and he did it again on Friday when the Coolmore consigned filly from Qafila fetched $1.25million.
461 Catalogued for First Inglis Digital Sale of 2026
A beautifully bred mare with an I Am Invincible colt at foot and a young half sister to a recent G1 winner are just two of the standout entries in a large catalogue brimming with quality in the Inglis Digital January Online Sale.
$650,000 for Diatonic Filly from Snapdancer
Yulong have brought a stellar draft of horses to Magic Millions and they include first crop yearlings by high class Japanese sprinter miler Diatonic (Jpn), who was in the spotlight on Friday when his filly from Snapdancer sold for $650,000.
MyRacehorse Snap Up $750,000 Stay Inside Filly
With two stakes-winners on his resume already, Golden Slipper winning sire Stay Inside couldn’t be doing much more and Sledmere Stud were well rewarded when they sold one of his fillies at Magic Millions on Friday for $750,000.
Widden Sell First Million Dollar Yearling for Anamoe
Australian Horse of the Year Anamoe is leading the first season sire averages at Magic Millions and put the issue well beyond doubt when he produced his first seven figure yearling on Friday with Widden Stud’s colt from Secret Trail fetching $1.1million.
$500,000 Filly for Nicconi – Sister to Scorched Earth
Widden Stud’s 20 year-old stallion Nicconi is best known as the sire of champion sprinter Nature Strip and while high end commercial breeders have largely moved on from the evergreen sire, he made his presence felt at the Magic Millions on Friday when his lone yearling sold for $500,000.
$900,000 for Zoustar Half-Sister to Farnan
Reigning champion sire Zoustar posted his best result at Magic Millions on Friday when the half-sister to Golden Slipper winner and exciting young sire Farnan sold for $900,000.
$550,000 Home Affairs Filly to Redgum Racing
John McArdle has had a great run of late with flying I Am Invincible filly My Gladiola and he took a shine to another good looking filly bred for speed at Magic Millions on Friday paying $550,000 for the Home Affairs filly from Real Surreal.
$625,000 In the Congo Colt to Gai and Adrian
He’s a three-quarter brother to undefeated superstar Autumn Glow and won the Group I ATC Golden Rose beating Anamoe, so it was no surprise when In the Congo made a splash at Magic Millions on Friday to deliver a colt that sold for $625,000.
Coolmore Sell $1.5million Snitzel Colt
Tom Magnier has invested heavily in elite racemares in recent years to add to the Coolmore broodmare band and one of them was Group II winner Vangelic, whose first foal was the top seller in Friday’s final Book 1 session at Magic Millions.