Progressive stayer First Immortal has been promising to win a stakes race for some time and the four year-old son of Churchill (IRE) looks set for an outstanding preparation after resuming from a spell to win the Listed MRC Anniversary Vase (1600m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Touted as a lightweight Cups horse last year, the Mark and Levi Kavanagh trained gelding was second in the Group III VRC Bart Cummings missing a start in the Melbourne Cup and then finished his spring with a close seventh in the Group III Geelong Cup.
Returning bigger and stronger this time in, First Immortal was fresh and ready to fire first up at a mile and scored a neck win for Blake Shinn that will have him well placed for further stakes assignments, although spring targets are the long term goal this year.
“He’s never won at a mile and never won first up, so we might be in for a bit of fun,” said Mark Kavanagh, who is already think ahead to the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups later in the year.
“He’ll have a light autumn into a couple of staying races and then ease up and look to the spring.”
A $160,000 Inglis Classic purchase for Kavanagh Racing from the Widden Stud draft, First Immortal has the overall record of eight wins from 16 starts and prizemoney topping $620,000.
He was foaled and raised at Widden and is the best of two winners from Storm Siren, a half-sister by Excites to Group I winner Hot King Prawn and Group III winner Siren’s Fury.
Widden Stud sold a Written By yearling colt from Storm Siren at Magic Millions this year for $220,000 to Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott/Kestrel Thoroughbreds and she was covered by St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) last spring after missing the previous year.
First Immortal is the 19th stakes winner worldwide for Galileo’s champion son Churchill, who has been a regular shuttler to Coolmore Australia.
