Laurie’s ‘dream colt’ Vinrock snares Group 1 honours
Matt Laurie has proven this season he has one of the very best three-year-olds in training and on Saturday at Randwick he showed he may well have the best two-year-old colt in his stable as the unexposed Vinrock (I Am Invincible) kept his unblemished record intact when he defeated a bunch of more seasoned rivals in the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m).
The performance capped off a brilliant day for Yarraman’s three-time champion stallion I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), who sired a juvenile stakes double, with Blue Hotel having made a winning debut in the Dequetteville Stakes (Listed, 1000m) at Morphettville earlier in the afternoon.
After Saturday, I Am Invincible’s top-flight tally now sits at 16, with Vinrock providing the stallion with his maiden juvenile Group 1 winner in Australia, while his overall tally of stakes scorers now totals 116. ‘Vinnie’ claimed his first two-year-old Group 1 winner when Te Akau’s classy colt Move To Strike won last year’s Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) in New Zealand.
Since making a winning debut at Pakenham on February 20, Vinrock has been on a steep upward curve, adding a first stakes win in the VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) at Flemington on March 8.
Ridden by Mark Zahra, who has been onboard the colt for all his starts, Vinrock showed no greenness on his first start on the Sydney leg, flying up the rail to defeat the Ciaron Maher-trained State Visit (Wootton Bassett) by 0.21 lengths with Buffalo (Written By) finishing a further 0.08 lengths away in third.
Laurie’s name has been thrust into the spotlight this season through the exploits of his talented filly Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express), winner of the VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) in the spring, who doubled her elite-level tally earlier in the week when she triumphed in the Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at the rescheduled Rosehill meeting on Tuesday.
Laurie expressed his delight at the result, hardly believing he was landing his second Group 1 in the space of a week.
“It’s a dream come true,” the winning trainer said. “We don’t buy huge amounts of yearlings and we do OK in our selection. I am just very proud of the horse and very proud of the team.
“Having a horse like Treasurethe Moment is incredible but to pick out a colt at the sales and be here winning a Group 1 three starts later, it’s mind blowing.
“I found him at the Premier Sale. He was a lovely looking horse. I valued him a lot higher and he passed in and I managed to go down and buy him post-sale.
“I’ve got quite a bit of family in him too so it is very special.
“I think he’s a ripping colt, he’s got a good brain, he’s fantastic to ride, he’s got great recovery and he’s just tough.
“You put it to him, I mean he was under siege there and he just kept coming – incredible effort to do all this in his first preparation.”
The trainer’s first Group 1 came with Escado (Casino Prince) in the 2013 South Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2500m). His next came eight years later when the now Widden Stud-based stallion, Portland Sky (Deep Field), dead-heated with Celebrity Queen (Redoute’s Choice) in the 2021 Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m).
Laurie almost landed the biggest juvenile prize in the land when Coleman (Pierata) finished second in last autumn’s Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m), a performance he followed with a third-placed finish in last year’s edition of the Inglis Sires’, so Vinrock has gone all the way to atone of his former stablemate’s near misses in those Group 1s.
The Group 1 odyssey will continue for Laurie, with the trainer set to chase another elite-level win with Treasurethe Moment in next week’s ATC Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m).
Purchased by his trainer Matt Laurie Racing and Wilannah Park Bloodstock for $300,000 from the draft of his breeders Rosemont Stud at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale last year, Vinrock (2 c I Am Invincible – Girl Gone Rockin’ by Redoute’s Choice) is out of Girl Gone Rockin’ (Redoute’s Choice), who won the Matriarch Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) in 2013 in the Rosemont colours. She is also the dam of two further winners.
Girl Gone Rockin’ herself is a daughter of Sorrento (Just A Dancer), who is also the dam of Group 3 score Syreon (Flying Spur).
Laurie told ANZ Bloodstock News ahead of Saturday’s race that studs had already lodged their interest in the talented colt and this weekend’s victory has undoubtedly sealed his place on a roster somewhere in Australia in the future.
However, Laurie’s attention will stay on his present career and he could attempt to make his future stallion credentials even stronger, revealing another Group 1 – the Champagne (Gr 1, 1600m) at Randwick in two weeks – could be on the cards, providing the colt pulls up in good shape.
In winning Saturday’s Group 1, Vinrock becomes the first Group 1 winner bred on the I Am Invincible / Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) cross, while he is one of five stakes winners in total bred on the nick.
Over at Morphettville, Vinnie’s ability to produce top-class juveniles came to the fore once again when the Clayton Douglas-trained Blue Hotel emulated her dam in the Dequetteville Stakes. The filly defeated Boa Vista (Snitzel) by 1.6 lengths, while Sisstainable, another daughter of Yarraman’s marquee stallion, finished another 0.4 lengths away in third.
A homebred for Jonathan Munz’s GSA Bloodstock, Blue Hotel is out of Volcada, who landed the Listed race for Munz in 2007. She has gone on to prove her aptitude in the breeding barn, with Blue Hotel her eighth winner from as many to race and they also include Group 3 winner Kaepernick (Fastnet Rock).
Douglas said he always had an inkling the filly was ‘above average’, so was happy to have his initial assessment proven right.
“She’s a lovely filly. She’s still got a little bit to learn, but she’s shown me a lot of ability at home and it’s good to see her go and do it,” said Douglas.
“We think she’s a good horse and obviously she’s a homebred for Jonathan Munz and the team at Pinecliff, so obviously she’s a very valuable filly.
“She’s by a champion sire I Am Invincible from a stakes–winning mare [Volcada], actually her mother won this race for my uncle Rocket [Rod Douglas], so it’s good for her to come and win this race too.
“I thought she’s above average and she showed that today.”
Douglas is in no rush to decide what’s next for the talented filly.
“We’ll just get her home, you know it’s always hard bringing a two-year-old away for the first time, but she’s handled it really well,” he said.
“She may end up in Queensland, we’ll just sort of work that out, but she’s a lovely filly.”