In Secret proves Invincible in Coolmore rout
I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) stamped his authority as a dominant supplier of elite-level sprinters with the stallion providing back-to-back winners of the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), as In Secret (3 f I Am Invincible – Eloping by Choisir) led home a quinella for the fillies, who upstaged their male counterparts.
Godolphin’s three-year-old filly proved imperious, as the royal blue silks notched yet another spring carnival major this season, while she followed Coolmore stallion Home Affairs as the second winner in as many years of the straight-track Group 1 for champion sire I Am Invincible.
Victory for In Secret ($3.10 fav), who had been pointed at the Flemington showpiece since finishing runner-up to Jacquinot (Rubick) in the Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m) more than a month ago, was commanding and arrogant in equal measure, as she pulverised her high-class rivals with an explosion of speed to win by two lengths, despite a less than smooth passage from when the gates crashed back.
“She got knocked down … had another horse laying in on her at the 450 [metre mark], but she’s a much stronger filly than what she gets given credit for. I feel she’s one of the best horses we’ve got on the farm,” said James Cummings, who recalled the stable’s near miss in the 2019 Coolmore Stud Stakes with Bivouac (Exceed And Excel).
“She’s just a weapon. She’s put them away, drawing clear on the line, and you don’t often see that in a set weights three-year-old Group 1 like this, in the Coolmore. This is like the Golden Slipper of the spring carnival for the three-year-olds. It’s a big achievement for our team to win it.
“Just a special performance from a very good filly.”
James McDonald, who was aboard Home Affairs a year ago when the colt produced a scintillating performance down the Flemington straight, revelled in the filly’s brilliance.
“There was a muck around at the start, when Economics had to come out again. It was a bit of a shambles really, we were in there a long time. She was on song and ready to go and then just jumped in the air,” he said.
“I had to muster her to get a spot pretty quickly. For my winning chances it was very important to get her in that spot, albeit she’s won by a margin.
“She was ready to launch on Friday when she trialed up the straight. I had that much in hand [today], it wasn’t funny. She was going so well and she loves the straight, she’s the perfect straight-track horse, just jot her down for the Coolmore.”
Outsider C’Est Magique (Zoustar) ($41), who along with In Secret was one of four fillies in the 17-runner race, emerged from the trailing pack to finish second, while Buenos Noches (Supido) ($9), second to subsequent The Everest (1200m) winner Giga Kick (Scissor Kick) last time out, proved best of the males in again producing a come-from-behind performance to finish third, a further length adrift.
Cummings revealed they considered In Secret, a $900,000 yearling buy for Godolphin, as their runner for The Everest earlier this month, before selecting Ingratiating (Frosted), but the trainer suggested the filly could be targeted at the $15 million race next year.
“I said [four weeks before The Everest], this horse In Secret is one of the best horses we’ve got out there and she could run a race [in The Everest],” Cummings said.
“You watch that race today and watch what she did to Jacquinot there, you tell me that she wouldn’t have given them a scare.
“Regardless of that, we’ve won the Coolmore and we kept her on ice for this race. She’s probably going to be The Everest favourite for next year.”
In Secret’s rise to prominence began with a maiden victory at Hawkesbury in April this year, followed by a comprehensive victory in the Woodlands Stakes (Listed, 1100m) during the Scone Cup carnival.
Returning as a spring three-year-old, In Secret finished second in the Silver Shadow Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) to Zougotcha (Zoustar), before announcing her elite-level credentials with success in the Run To The Rose (Gr 2, 1200m) last month, a performance which saw her sent off favourite for the Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m), a race in which she was collared late by Jacquinot.
In Secret becomes the 14th individual Group 1 winner for Yarraman Park Stud’s I Am Invincible, who yesterday supplied his third winner of the Coolmore Stud Stakes – a record that sees him out on his own since the race was elevated to Group 1 status in 2006, surpassing Exceed And Excel (Danehill), who sired the 2019 and 2020 winners of the race in Exceedance and September Run. I Am Invincible’s progeny have shown a particular aptitude for the straight track at Flemington, having now won five elite-level races down over the course.
The stallion, who earned his first champion sire title last season, has earned 19 individual stakes winners over a sprint distance (to 1399 metres) since the start of last season, a figure five more than his nearest rival. He has four Group 1 winners among that cohort.
His current crop of two-year-olds are bred from his career-high fee of $247,500 (inc GST), a fee he returned to this season having been raised from $220,000 (inc GST) in 2021.
In Secret was bred by Michael Christian’s Saconi Thoroughbreds and Segenhoe Stud, who sold her at last year’s Magic Millions sale.
She is the second named foal out of multiple stakes-winning two-year-old Eloping (Choisir), who herself finished sixth in the 2014 running of the Coolmore Stud Stakes behind I Am Invincible’s first winner of the race, Brazen Beau.
Eloping has a two-year-old filly by Trapeze Artist (Snitzel) that sold for $200,000 to Mick Price at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale earlier this year, as well as a yearling filly by Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), while she returned to I Am Invincible last year, and produced a filly by the stallion in September.