Imperatriz steals the show at The Valley with Manikato romp
Opie Bosson hailed Te Akau’s Imperatriz (I Am Invincible) as the ‘best he has ridden’ after guiding the mare to an ultra-facile victory in yesterday’s Manikato Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) at Moonee Valley, her third Group 1 at the Melbourne venue.
Coming into the race off the back of wins in the McEwen Stakes (Gr 2, 1000m) and Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m), the Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-trained five-year-old mare pinged the gates and was unusually settled at the front of proceedings by Bosson.
Hardly looking like she was breaking a sweat, the mare glided easily round the idiosyncratic twists and turns of The Valley, pulling away from her rivals approaching the turn and eventually crossed the line three-and-a-quarter lengths clear of I Am Me, another daughter of Yarraman Park’s all-conquering sire I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit).
Uncommon James (Cable Bay) came home another half a length away in third. Imperatriz covered the 1200 metres in a time of 1:09.59.
With yesterday’s win, Imperatriz can now lay claim to a rare feat of having won three of the major sprints at The Valley, having opened her Group 1 account at the track when she won the William Reid Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) earlier this year.
Walker told Racing.com there were no regrets in the camp about swerving the $20 million The Everest (1200m) in Sydney a fortnight ago, with the mare’s longevity at the forefront of the ownership group’s mind.
“It’s great for all the ownership group,” Walker said. “They’ve been so understanding about not going to Sydney for The Everest. We’re thinking about her longevity.
“It’s a big thrill, and I think this mare is keeping Opie in the saddle as well. He’s such an important part of our team, so that’s great.
“That ride today is the genius of Opie. She jumped so well, so why take away that advantage? I think he probably expected that someone might come around him and then he’d take a trail, but no one did. She had the race in the bag a long way from home, really.”
Bosson said the fact she was able to lead and win so easily was a measure of her quality.
“It’s easy when you’re riding horses like this,” Bosson said. “She just does everything for me, really. She’s something special. She’s the best I’ve ever ridden, by far. I’ve never ridden a horse that can just switch off and then go bang when you want it.
“It wasn’t really the plan to lead, but we were there and she was doing it comfortably. She changed legs at the right time, and turning for home I knew that we were going to be hard to beat.”
Bred by Malaysian businessman Dato Yap Kim San’s Raffles Farm, Imperatriz (5 m I Am Invincible – Berimbau by Shamardal) was bought by Te Akau supremo David Ellis for $360,000 from Mike Fleming’s Bhima Thoroughbreds draft at the 2020 edition of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
The mare is the second foal out of Group 2 placegetter Berimbau (Shamardal), who fetched $1.8 million in foal to I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) when she sold to Yulong at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale earlier in the year.
In 2022, Berimbau produced a colt by Capitalist (Written Tycoon), while this season she foaled a brother to Imperatriz.
One of 100 individual stakes winners and 14 elite-level winners for I Am Invincible, Imperatriz is the stallion’s most successful performer with yesterday’s victory her seventh in top-flight company.
I Am Invincible is standing for a career high fee of $302,500 (inc GST), making him the most expensive advertised stallion in the country.