Yarraman Park's champion sire I Am Invincible has dominated the sale ring at this week’s Gold Coast Yearling Sale and today at the Gold Coast was the only stallion to post two winners on Magic Millions Day with success for Navy Cross and then King of Sparta.
Talented gelding King of Sparta captured his first stakes race win when conquering a massive field of 18 runners to win in the $2 million Gold Coast Magic Millions 3YO Guineas (1400m).
Under the urgings of jockey Nash Rawiller, he exploded down the middle of the track to claim the lead inside the final 200m of the race, defeating another fast-finisher Me Me Lagarde by two lengths, with a significant margin to Ciaron Maher and David Eustace’s filly Socialist in third.
The Snowden stable won the Magic Millions Guineas in 2021 with Aim for similar connections and Paul Snowden said King of Sparta had the potential to develop into a Group 1 contender.
“He’s a horse that’s always had immense talent but he always seems to do something wrong in his races and ends up being his own worst enemy,” Snowden said.
“But today with Nash – it’s the first time he’s sat on the horse believe it or not – I was filling him up with plenty of instructions before the race and thankfully there was always going to be good tempo and he got into a lovely trailing spot midfield where we wanted to be.
“He was much too good.
“Maturity is what he’s always lacked and it showed through his early career when he was doing things wrong against that better class of horse but hopefully he is that better class of horse now and he can keep going this way.”
A $700,000 purchase by China Horse Club, Newgate Farm and Starlight Racing out of the Yarraman Park Stud draft at the 2020 Gold Coast Yearling Sale, King of Sparta has now won three races and more than $1.3 million in prizemoney.
He is the 73rd stakes-winner for I Am Invincible and is the best of three winners from Group III winning Holy Roman Emperor (IRE) mare Octavia, who produced a colt by I Am Invincible last spring and is back in foal to him again..
The progeny of I Am Invincible have again been in demand at this week’s Gold Coast Yearling Sale with five horses selling for $1 million or more, including the $1.9 million sale-topping colt (Lot 585) who was offered by Newgate Farm and purchased by Coolmore’s Tom Magnier.
Connections of the Brian Dais-trained Glorious Ruby, who finished eighth in Saturday's Guineas, collected more than $180,000 in bonuses as the highest-placed horse eligible for the Magic Millions Racing Women's Bonus.
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