TTR AusNZ’s Analyse This series shines the analytical spotlight on an in-form sire, trainer, vendor or breeder who is enjoying a particularly good run and Bhima Thoroughbreds is TTR AusNZ’s vendor of the month.
It has been a super couple of months for Mike and Kate Fleming’s Bhima Thoroughbreds.
Bhima Thoroughbreds have already sold three individual Group 1 winners this season, Militarize (NZ) (Dundeel {NZ}), Imperatriz (I Am Invincible and Tropical Squall (Prized Icon).
Bhima Thoroughbreds have sold the winners of 20 per cent of all Group 1 events in Australia this season.
Bhima Thoroughbreds is on track to outperform its best season in recent times which came in 2020/21 when it was represented by 10 stakes wins.
Remarkably, Bhima Thoroughbreds graduates have won 20 per cent of the 15 Group 1 events that have been run and won this season.
And it comes as no fluke with the Scone-based nursery holding a long-term reputation as one of Australia’s leading vendors having sold young stallions North Pacific and Prague as well as elite winners Forbidden Love (All Too Hard) and I Am A Star (NZ) (I Am Invincible).
| Horse | Race |
|---|---|
| Karli’s Karma | G3 Eurythmic S., 1400m |
| Tropical Squall | G1 Flight S., 1600m |
| Imperatriz | G1 Moir Stakes, 1000m, G2 McEwen S., 1000m |
| Militarize | G1 Golden Rose, 1400m |
With just a quarter of the season behind us, Bhima Thoroughbreds is already the proud vendor of four stakes winners including three at Group 1 level. Adding to his dual elite success as a 2-year-old, the Chris Waller-trained Militarize (NZ) (Dundeel {NZ}) enhanced his already valuable future stallion career last month with a barnstorming finish to land the G1 Golden Rose S. at Rosehill. The boom colt was the most expensive graduate of Bhima Thoroughbreds’ 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft when selling to China Horse Club, Newgate Bloodstock and Trilogy Racing for $550,000, after being born at Haunui Farm.
Elite sprinting mare Imperatriz (I Am Invincible) notched up her sixth success at the elite level with an incredible display of speed in the G1 Moir S. last month at The Valley. It was the 5-year-old mare’s second Group 1 victory on Australian soil after four dominant elite-level victories in New Zealand. The sprinting sensation was a $360,000 purchase for David Ellis of Te Akau Racing from the Bhima Thoroughbreds’ 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft.
Militarize (NZ)
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Gallery: Bhima Thoroughbreds’ Group 1-winning graduates already in the 2023/24 season, images courtesy of The Image Is Everything
It was only 24 hours later that Bhima Thoroughbreds would notch up another elite-level winner, but this time in Sydney. Magic Millions’ 2021 National Weanling Sale graduate Tropical Squall (Prized Icon) landed the G1 Darley Flight S. contributing to a red-letter day for trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
The 3-year-old filly was making significant improvement having won a fillies and mares BM72 on the Randwick-Kensington track just two starts back. Offered on behalf of breeder Kooringal Stud, the quality filly was a bargain purchase for her Gooree Park connections having set them back just $16,000 – or a fraction of the $105,000 sale average. With earnings exceeding $550,000, the valuable filly has accumulated returns of more than 34 times her purchase price.
Bhima Thoroughbreds’ stakes wins per season
The vendor is in flying form having already equalled their stakes winners record from last season with three-quarters of the season still remaining. Bhima Thoroughbreds’ have averaged an impressive seven stakes wins per season for the past four seasons.
The vendor’s best season in this period came in the 2020/21 season when it sold the winners of 10 stakes events including an elite-level victory with Forbidden Love in the G1 Surround S.
Bhima Thoroughbreds stakes winners by Grade since 2020/21
Since the commencement of the 2020 racing season, Bhima Thoroughbreds graduates have won 27 stakes events in total.
Remarkably, the vendor is most represented by winners in the elite category with almost 40 per cent of all stakes wins for the vendor occurring at Group 1 level. Of the 10 elite-level wins, six were unique which also include top-flight winners Manzoice (Almanzor {Fr}) and Glint Of Hope (Deep Impact {Jpn}).
| Sale | Stakes Winners |
|---|---|
| Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale | 7 |
| Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale | 4 |
| Magic Millions National Weanling Sale | 2 |
| Inglis Premier Yearling Sale | 2 |
| Inglis Classic Yearling Sale | 1 |
Table: Bhima Thoroughbreds’ stakes-winning graduates by sale since 2020/21
In terms of sales, the most successful sales ground has been Magic Millions’ Gold Coast complex with over 50 per cent of stakes-winning graduates hailing from either the Gold Coast Yearling Sale or National Weanling Sale.
Of the 24 lots offered at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, 12 per cent have since won at stakes level including Four Moves Ahead (Snitzel), Rhapsody Rose (Star Witness) and Imperatriz.
While Bhima Thoroughbreds have sent stakes winners through all of the major Australian yearling sales, the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale has been the vendor’s most successful sale in recent years with seven of the stakes winners since 2020 produced from the sale. The average purchase price of a Bhima Thoroughbreds stakes winning graduate since 2020 is a modest $265,000.
The vendor has offered nine million dollar plus lots including the Kia Ora Stud based stallion Prague who fetched $1,600,000 at the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. In terms of stakes winners since 2020, the highest priced was the G3 Up & Coming S. winner and now Newgate sire North Pacific who fetched $800,000 at the 2019 Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, while Group 3 winning mare Karli’s Karma (Deep Field) was the least expensive having fetched just $5,000 at the 2018 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale.
With this season’s results supported by a proven history of producing elite racehorses, it is clear that the Bhima Thoroughbreds draft is always well worth a stopover. With elite sprinters, Group 1-winning juvenile colts and elite staying prospects, the Bhima Thoroughbreds draft certainly has a horse for everyone.
This article was written by Caitlin Smith for TTR AusNZ.
