Back on Track

Graham reports: "Just got off the phone to Gerald and he advises that treatment on the Big Fella is working well. Horse worked nicely this morning and pulled up OK. Will send on more news in due course."

Recent local results for Invincible Spirit

The Invincible Spirits seem to hitting their straps in both hemispheres. Below are some recent local results of merit-

• 24/05/2008 Mildura Spirit Bay 2nd of 8
• 26/05/2008 Benalla Invinciblekindness 1st of 13
• 04/06/2008 Sandown-Lakeside Sanpan 2nd of 14
• 06/06/2008 Swan Hill Spirit Bay 3rd of 12
• 21/6/08 Monee Valley Sanpan 1st of 9
• 25/06/2008 Balaklava Invincible Diva 1 of 11
  

Invincible Spirit filly wins at Royal Ascot

Khamsin Warrior's sire Invincible Spirit (Green Desert-Rafha, by Kris) added an overnight UK black-type success when daughter Festivale (Invincible Spirit-Cephalonie, by Kris S) snatched victory by a neck in the £60,000 (A$126,000) Listed Sandringham Stakes (8 furlongs) for 3YO fillies at Royal Ascot.

Irish-bred Festivale (ridden by Australian jockey Kerrin McEvoy for trainer John Dunlop) defeated Illusion (Anabaa-Fantasize, by Groom Dancer) & US-bred Shabiba (Seeking The Gold-Misterah, by Alhaarth). Last month Festivale finished 3rd in the UK Listed Michael Seely Memorial Fillies' Stakes (7 furlongs) at York.

On the mend

Geoff visited KW this morning and was told he has missed about 10 days work with a repiratory infection which, according to the 'scope' that was done yesterday, is almost cleared. He has also had a sample of mucous taken from his throat for culturing to make sure he is getting the right antibiotic. He is expected to 'return to work' in the next few days. He looked well enough but was noticbly more sooky than on previous visits and just wanted to put his head out for a cuddle. Geoff and Carolyn obliged.

Gerald will shortly return from Qld (Stablemates Hy Dream a winner on Brisbane Cup day and Synonym a good fourth in the Ipswich Cup) and make his assessment on his progress then.

Invincible Spirit 2YO Wins In NZ

Australian-bred 2YO gelding Kildonan (Invincible Spirit-Game Lady, by Lord Seymour) motored home from the tail of the field to blitz his rivals by 8.5-lengths on debut over 1400m at Avondale (NZ) for trainer Yves Sequin.

Kildonan, bred similarly to Khamsin Warrior being out of a Sir Gaylord line mare, was a $20,000 yearling at the 2007 Magic Millions Adelaide Sale & subsequently a NZ$56,000 2YO at the 2007 NZ Bloodstock Horses-In-Training Sale at which he posted an impressive breeze-up time of 10.82 seconds.

NZ's Thoroughbred News ran this story following his win.
Kildonan impresses at Avondale
11 Jun 2008 By Jeff Dore
In much the same way that Rafael Nadal destroyed Roger Federer in the recent French Open tennis final, debutante Australian bred galloper Kildonan (2 B. G. Invincible Spirit – Game Lady by Lord Seymour) decimated his rivals in the New Lynn RSA (1400m) Maiden Juvenile at Avondale on Wednesday.
While Nadal only allowed Federer a total of four games in his three-set whitewash, Kildonan hardly gave his opponents a look-in when racing away to win untouched by eight and a half lengths.
A trial winner at Avondale prior to his first race-day outing, Kildonan was heavily supported on the tote and ridden with extreme confidence by Andrew Calder.
After loping along at the tail of the field on a genuine pace, Calder let Kildonan slide forward wide on the track from seven lengths off the lead at the 600 metres, while still firmly held. He slipped into another gear when improving widest of all to level at the 400 and turned the race into a procession when sprinting clear under minimal urging.
And, his two closest rivals had proved themselves to be no mugs at their previous debut starts. Finishing second, Bakup (Kilimanjaro - Dastaria) had recorded a big late run to fill the same position at Pukekohe last time, while the richly bred Monte Cervino (Montjeu – Sierra Dane) improved to claim third, having found the line for fourth in the same race as Bakup prior.
The time for the 1400 metres on a genuine slow track was 1:27.36.
Prepared at Cambridge by Yves Sequin for Bruce and Maureen Harvey, Kildonan was purchased by Michael Wallace Bloodstock for $56,000 from the 2007 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale, and the enormity of his win appears to make the outlay chickenfeed.
His Irish bred sire Invincible Spirit (Green Desert – Rafha by Kris) was a group one winner of seven races, including two as a two-year-old, and his oldest Australian bred progeny are three.
Kildonan obviously has any amount of ability and seems quite capable of going over more ground, judging by both his racing manner and pedigree.

Trial Postponed

KW's slight illness is continuing so it was decided that a trial today was a bit too much to ask of him. Instead he will trial in two weeks if recovered and has enough work under his belt.

Today's trial was won easily by his stablemate, Hothavananights, in the fastest 2YO time of the morning. He is entered for a race at Rosehill on June 21. Worth a punt I reckon.

Scope first

Following a slight nasal discharge earlier in the week and a couple of days rest, the horse will be scoped today as a precaution before trialling Friday (see below).
I think I'll move in to Gerald's; KW gets better health care than me!

First Start Delayed

Trainer Gerald Ryan has decided against a first start for Khamsin Warrior next Wednesday. He has been listed for another trial at Rosehill next Friday (13th) at 8.35am.

Stallion Statistics for Invincible Spirit Auger Well for KW

Invincible Spirit progeny in Australia may not yet have reached the heights of their half-brothers and sisters in Europe but his local statistics are nevertheless encouraging.

Progeny such as Sanpan, Invinciblekindness, and Invincible Power have seen his last 100 starters average 17% wins and 45% placings.

In races from 1501m-2000m these figures jump to a very impressive 23% and 61% respectively. (By comparision leading sire, Redoutes Choice's figures for his last 100 starters are 11% and 31%).

Spiriting Ahead

The new Northern Hemisphere racing season seems to have kicked off with a bang for Khamsin Warrior's sire, Invincible Spirit. This report is from Australian Racing and Breeding Magazine.

Invincible Spirit Adds Irish Gr3
In Ireland overnight, former Chatswood Stud shuttler Invincible Spirit (Green Desert-Rafha, by Kris) added a group success when daughter Age Of Chivalry (Invincible Spirit-Aravonian, by Night Shift) grabbed victory by a head in the €70,000 (A$119,000) Gr3 Ballyogan Stakes (6 furlongs) for fillies & mares at Leopardstown. Age Of Chivalry (ridden by Fran Berry for trainer John Oxx) defeated UK-bred pair Eastern Romance (Oasis Dream-Ocean Grove, by Fairy King) & Cartimandua (Medicean-Agrippina, by Timeless Times).

Age of Chivalry is bred similarly to Khamsin Warrior being 4 x 3 & 5 to Northern Dancer and 4 x 5 to Sir Ivor.
Khamsin Warrior is 4 x 5 to Northern Dancer and 4 x 4 to Sir Ivor.

The Northern Dancer/Sir Ivor cross is well known as a potent producer of winners. For example Redoute’s Choice has sired 8 stakeswinners from 33 runners out of mares by Sir Ivor line stallions. The chief source is Sir Tristram who is the damsire of 3 stakeswinners including multiple Group 1 winner Lotteria while 5 of Sir Tristram’s sire sons have each been represented as the damsire of a Redoute’s Choice stakeswinner: Marauding, Zabeel, Sovereign Red, Dr. Grace and Military Plume.

Three out of four of our current top four stallions are by Northern Dancer male line stallions out of mares which trace tail female to a Sir Ivor mare! They are Flying Spur, Redoutes Choice & Encosta De Lago. The fourth, Zabeel, is not male line to Northern Dancer or tail female to a Sir Ivor mare but is (coincidently or not?) bred on the reverse cross as he is by a Sir Ivor line stallion out of a Northern Dancer line mare.

Let's hope KW lives up to all this theory when he gets his chance on the track.

First Start Next Wednesday

Khamsin Warrior has pulled up well from his trial and Gerald has nominated him for a 2-YO maiden race at Canterbury Racecourse next Wednesday, 11 June.


At the moment 19 are nominated and they include some very well bred youngsters including several by Hussonet, Encosta de Lago etc from big stables representing well known owners such as Nick Moraitis (Might and Power) and Sheikh Mohammed (Darley and Woodlands Studs). Several already have provincial wins under their belt.

At the moment the weather doesn't look so good from a track point of view, so cross your fingers that it clears and the track dries out for his first start.