Cover image courtesy of Racing Photos
Having put the writing on the wall with an impressive debut success at Morphettville last month, I Am Unstoppable looked every inch a star of the future at Sandown on Saturday, where he once again loomed up and breezed past his rivals in effortless fashion to keep his unbeaten record intact.
On what was his first start at stakes level, the ease of I Am Unstoppable’s victory came as no surprise to his trainer Lloyd Kennewell, who has made no secret of the regard in which he holds the son of Yarraman Park Stud’s I Am Invincible.
“I think he’s pretty good and like I said on Saturday, I think he’s the best colt that I’ve trained at this stage,” Kennewell said.
“He’s always shown us a lot of effortless trackwork and training. He took that to the trials and he’s continued to take it to race day, which is ultimately what they’ve got to do. He’s done everything perfectly so far.
“He’s got a monster pedigree and he’s already ticked a few boxes. He’s a stakes-winning son of Vinnie at two, and they’re hard to come by, so if he can go on and do it at three then he’s going to be a very valuable commodity at stud.
“He’s (I Am Unstoppable) got a monster pedigree and he’s already ticked a few boxes. He’s a stakes-winning son of Vinnie (I Am Invincible) at two, and they’re hard to come by, so if he can go on and do it at three then he’s going to be a very valuable commodity at stud.” - Lloyd Kennewell
“You saw a pretty good stakes-winning 2-year-old on Saturday.”
Purchased in conjunction with Group 1 Bloodstock’s (FBAA) Mathew Becker - whom Kennewell counts as a good mate as well as a great bloodstock agent - for just $65,000 at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, I Am Unstoppable was the cheapest of 44 yearlings by his sire to sell at the curtain-raising auction.
His relatively diminutive price-tag was a far cry from the $1.9 million outlaid for I Am Invincible’s sale-topping colt at the same auction, and his purchase price becomes even more surprising when taking a look at his blue-blooded pedigree page.
I Am Unstoppable is the first foal out of the stakes-winning Pierro mare Satin Slipper, who landed the Listed Gimcrack S. on debut as a juvenile and is a granddaughter of the Kiwi Group 1 winner Star Satire (NZ) (Volkskraad {GB}).
Satin Slipper herself is a daughter of another gun 2-year-old in Satin Shoes (Flying Spur), who took out the G2 Silver Slipper S. and Listed Widden S. in her juvenile season before training on at three to win the Listed Quezette S. and record a placing in the G1 Coolmore Stud S.
I Am Unstoppable as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Many will be left wondering how a horse with that pedigree, by Australia’s reigning Champion Sire in I Am Invincible, could be snapped up for just $65,000, but it was solely an ‘ordinary’ set of x-rays that prevented the Newgate Farm-consigned colt from making significantly more according to Kennewell.
“The horse was actually passed in and I raced down there to buy him after I saw that he was passed in,” Kennewell revealed. “We did a deal with Henry Field and Jim Carey and the rest is history.
“He was probably a $5 (hundred thousand) to $600,000 colt if he had clean x-rays. He had ordinary x-rays and there were things there that I could live with after going through them with my vet.
“If you’re spending big money on a horse I totally get that you’ve got to have a clean set of x-rays, but I think you have to take a punt somewhere along the line.
“If you’re spending big money on a horse I totally get that you’ve got to have a clean set of x-rays, but I think you have to take a punt somewhere along the line.” - Lloyd Kennewell
“I’ve been buying a few like this and I did it again this year at Melbourne Premier - I bought another I Am Invincible out of a stakes winner for similar sort of money.
“You never know your luck in the big city, but this colt has never had a sore day in his life. He’s been terrific and I think he’s got a really, really bright future.”
Back to the well
Kennewell is no stranger to success with the progeny of I Am Invincible, with his dual Group 1-winning former stable star Viddora, who fetched a whopping $2.55 million when offered in foal to former shuttle stallion Lope De Vega (Ire) at the 2020 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, also by the Yarraman Park linchpin.
Viddora as a broodmare | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
I Am Invincible, who has sired an impressive 19 stakes winners so far this campaign, is firmly on track to be crowned Champion Sire in Australia for the second season in succession.
The son of Invincible Spirit (Ire) has also enjoyed another stellar year in the sales ring and was once again the leading sire at last week’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, where 33 of his sons and daughters sold for total receipts of $25,305,000 at an astonishing average of $766,818.
Kennewell has been a huge admirer of I Am Invincible since the primitive days of his stud career when he stood at a significantly more modest service fee than the career-high $247,500 (inc GST) he stood for last year. His only issue with the stallion is that he is unable to purchase more of his progeny.
“I was on him from pretty much day dot and I’ve gone from paying very little money for them to very big money for them,” Kennewell said of I Am Invincible's progeny.
“I was on him (I Am Invincible) from pretty much day dot and I’ve gone from paying very little money for them to very big money for them.” - Lloyd Kennewell
“They’re just getting expensive to buy, so I was lucky to get this one really. When you are able to come back and buy them at this sort of price, it’s a great result.
“We bought this horse with a few x-ray issues, but sometimes you have to be a little bit forgiving and I’m a little that way inclined.
“If they are a bargain basement price, then I’m happy to take a punt on these sort of horses because they’ve got the pedigree and they’ve got the type, so we’re happy to roll the dice with them.”
Type, as opposed to pedigree, is the most important consideration for Kennewell when buying a horse, and the trainer is more than happy to search far and wide to identify what he believes are the best athletes offered for sale across Australia.
Lloyd Kennewell | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
“I love buying a good type,” he said. “I don’t usually go into a sale with orders, but when I find a horse that I really like, I try and drive on and get the clients involved to have the majority of the horse pre-purchased.
“We were very active up at the Gold Coast this year, we ended up with about eight or nine there, and that flowed into the Classic Sale in Sydney where we bought a few.
“We were active in Melbourne, Adelaide, and I thought we bought one of the best colts in Perth this year. We even went to the QTIS Sale because I bought Meridius there a couple of years ago. He’s a nice Extreme Choice colt that I’ve got and I bought his sister up there.
“Our business model is to try and get 2 and 3-year-olds up and going early, and it’s working.”
Proof is in the pudding
In the aftermath of I Am Unstoppable’s victory, Kennewell was also quick to heap praise on Henry Field, whose Newgate Farm raised and prepared I Am Unstoppable for sale on behalf of his breeder Belinda Bateman.
I Am Unstoppable is just the latest cab off the rank for Newgate, who sold more 2-year-old and 3-year-old stakes winners last season than any other vendor in Australia and finished both the Magic Millions Gold Coast and Inglis Classic Yearling Sales as leading vendor earlier this year.
Charlie Duckworth and Henry Field | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“Henry Field is an absolute genius, the guy can seriously breed a horse and the way he brings them up and raises them on that farm is second to none,” Kennewell said.
“I love doing business with him and he’s not someone I just do business with, I class him as a close friend.
“He’s doing a fantastic job in all facets of the industry and he has got great people around him, which makes him even better. He’s a champ.”
“He’s (Henry Field) doing a fantastic job in all facets of the industry and he has got great people around him, which makes him even better. He’s a champ.” - Lloyd Kennewell
I Am Unstoppable is not the only exciting 2-year-old in Kennewell’s ranks that was purchased from Newgate Farm at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, with Pure Paradise, a daughter of Newgate resident Capitalist, singled out as another promising individual to have emerged from the Aberdeen nursery.
“I actually have another very good filly who has just come back into training, Pure Paradise, who has only had two starts for two seconds,” Kennewell added.
“She ran second to King’s Gambit on debut in the Debutant and then she ran second in the Magic Millions race at Ballarat, where she actually fractured her hind leg in the run.
Pure Paradise as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“She probably would have been in the Magic Millions race on the Gold Coast if that hadn’t have happened. She’s had four months out and has just come back in now, but she’s absolutely flying.
“The Batemans bred I Am Unstoppable and they also bred Pure Paradise, who is already stakes placed. Obviously, they’re getting reared and raised right on Henry’s farm and the proof is in the pudding with the way they are coming out.”
‘The future is really bright’
As well as plenty of promising young horses to go to war with in the spring, Kennewell is also excited about the prospect of welcoming talented horsewoman Lucy Yeomans into the fold as co-trainer next season.
Kennewell announced on Wednesday that Yeomans, who has spent the past decade working for the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace juggernaut, will join him on the training license at Cranbourne from August 1, in a move that the multiple Group 1-winning trainer expects will continue the stable’s excellent run of recent success.
“We’re extremely excited,” Kennewell said. “It’s something that we have worked on for the past six weeks, I went and approached Lucy out of the blue and it was great to get confirmation from her that she was coming on board to be a co-trainer.
“I think she is a superstar. She’s one of the best horsewomen that we know in the industry and to have her working alongside me, I think the future is really bright.
“I think she (Lucy Yeomans) is a superstar. She’s one of the best horsewomen that we know in the industry and to have her working alongside me, I think the future is really bright.” - Lloyd Kennewell
“It’s a chance for Lucy to step in and do it for herself now along with me, which should work really well and give us both a work-life balance, which you’ve got to have.
“We’re racing seven days a week, I try to be active at all the sales and I have a young family, so you need a work-life balance.”
Much to Kennewell’s delight, the news of Yeomans’ arrival on the training license has been very well received by the stable’s existing clients, with a host of new faces also keen to get involved with Australia’s newest training partnership.
Lucy Yeomans with Ciaron Maher | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
“It’s only going to grow from here,” Kennewell added. “We’ve had nothing but praise and a lot of people come forward in the last 48-72 hours, it has been out of control with the number of people who want to come on board and get involved. It’s fantastic.
“I’ve got a really good crop of horses at the moment and we’ve bought up again this year, so I felt the timing was perfect.
“We’re having a really good run at the moment, the horses are going well and I think eight of the last 25 have won.
“We have two unbeaten 2-year-olds that are both stakes winners this season as well, so we’re really happy with where things are at. The future is looking good.”
