$1.65million I Am Invincible Colt Lights Up NZB Ready to Run

Tara Madgwick - Wednesday November 20

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.

Advertisement

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.

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.

The $1.65million I Am Invincible colt from Shillelagh has been the talk of the sale all week - image Trish Dunell

Shillelagh has no yearling for the sales in 2025, but has foaled this spring producing a filly by Snitzel.

Visit the profile page for I Am Invincible

I Am Invincible in upcoming sales:
Advertisment
More Reading...
NZB Breeze Up Footage Now Available to View Online
The highly anticipated Breeze Up videos for NZB’s 2025 Ready to Run Sale are now available to view online at nzb.co.nz.
Juvenile Trial Watch – Rosehill
The Rosehill trials on Friday morning featured a couple of juvenile heats and both winners came out of the Widden Stud draft at Magic Millions with one topping the sale at $2.8million and the other selling for a modest $150,000.
Breeding To Win – 2025 G1 MVRC Cox Plate
An emotional week in Australasian racing approaches its crescendo as we count down to the final Cox Plate before a radical new era in its history begins and we mourn the passing of one of its greatest champions.
A Century of NZB National Yearling Sales Success: Cox Plate
Moonee Valley’s A$6m Group One WS Cox Plate (2040m) is known as the weight-for-age championship of Australasia and has been won by many of Australia and New Zealand’s greatest thoroughbreds.
Pedigree Potential –NZB Ready to Run – Nicks that Click
A quality packed catalogue for the 2025 NZB Ready to Run Sale is now online and in the lead up to the sale we’ll go looking each week for some horses of interest that jump out on pedigree for various reasons.
Blueblood Taste of Heaven Set for Magic Millions Digital Sale
One of the country's best bred broodmares, who is also a proven stakes producer, is one of the early highlights for the upcoming first Magic Millions Digital Sale.
Good News Week for Geisel Park
Geisel Park’s black-type mare Laced Up Heels is in foal off a maiden cover to Champion Australian Sire Zoustar and an orphan foal has found a new mum.
Sires With Winners - Thursday October 23
Here is the full list of 26 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
NZB Ready to Run Breeze Ups Complete for 2025
The final day of NZB’s 2025 Ready to Run Sale Breeze Ups saw a further 202 two-year-olds gallop down the home straight at Te Rapa Racecourse.
Inglis Digital - Darby Swoop on Amazing Eagle for $310,000
Scott Darby believes today’s Inglis Digital sale-topper Amazing Eagle (Capitalist) can continue along the same successful mould as the likes of former online Darby acquisitions Robusto, Caballus and Imperial Force and progress on to become a future racetrack star.