US owner sees champion mare as racing prospect
Managing owner David Ellis accepts his champion mare Imperatriz’s racing days may not be over should her new owner want to put her back into work after her sale this month.
The 10-time Group 1 winner will be auctioned at the Magic Millions Sale on May 28, although she won’t be on the Gold Coast but back in her paddock in Waikato.
The sale will attract industry attention worldwide, as mares of Imperatriz’s record rarely go up for public auction, but when Ellis, the boss of Te Akau who bought, syndicated and managed Imperatriz, announced she will be auctioned, it was supposed to be as a breeding prospect.
But it appears those lines may be a little more blurry then first thought.
Imperatriz was retired soon after her slightly luckless fourth in the TJ Smith in Sydney in April, having completed the end-of-season veterinary examination many elite horses undergo.
Ellis is adamant there was nothing structurally wrong with Imperatriz barring the general wear and tear most top-level horses show but their veterinary advice was a broodmare career was her best path.
She was then going to have to be sold before starting her broodmare career, as it is impractical to breed from a mare as a large syndicate, and Ellis said his intention was to sell her as a broodmare.
But that plot thickened yesterday when huge-spending US owner John Stewart said he is willing to pay up to A$6 million for Imperatriz, and if he buys her, he would consider racing her again.
Stewart was the underbidder on the yearling daughter of Winx which sold for A$10m in Sydney last month, saying he went to A$9m.
He told Australian racing website Racenet on Monday that he thinks Imperatriz will probably fetch between A$5m and A$6m at the auction and he would be willing to pay the latter figure.
“She fits right in to what I’m looking for,” said Stewart. “She’s on our list. I think she goes for between A$5m and A$6m. A$6m probably buys her and I’d be willing to pay that for her.” Then comes the twist in the tale. “I know my friends at Coolmore want her, too. They may be my friends, but if I want the horse, I’m buying it.
“She’s being sold as a broodmare prospect, even though I think she could still race. Their intention is to retire her but we’d talk to the trainers and see what they wanted to do.”
Ellis says while Imperatriz is being offered as a broodmare and they would not race her, there is no horse welfare or health issues that would stop her racing again.
“The decision to retire her was made because of wear and tear but we also realise that whoever is lucky enough to buy her has the option to put her back in training,” Ellis told the Herald.
“Whoever buys her is buying a very special horse and a very valuable one, so I’m sure they will be surrounded by good people.
“I realise if a racing career was considered, it would be with a leading trainer and you’d trust that person to make the right decisions based on how she was.
“There’s nothing that would stop her racing on, so if that’s what happens I’m sure she’ll be in good hands.”
Stewart has struck up an association with expat Kiwi trainer Chris Waller in Sydney, and while there is no guarantee Stewart will end up owning Imperatriz, if he does and the glamour mare ends up in Waller’s care, she would race again only if 100 per cent sound.
Rated Australia’s best sprinter at the time of her retirement, if Imperatriz was put back into training, she would soon be snapped up by a slot holder for The Everest at Randwick in October.
She could potentially go into The Everest with only one but at most two lead-up runs, compete for A$20m and then go to stud in the spring and be retired early next year without overtaxing her physically.
But before any of those possibilities become anything bordering on reality, Imperatriz has to be sold and her new owners divulge their plans. The next chapter of the Imperatriz story should be a lot clearer by the evening of May 28.