Written by Richard Edmunds, The Thoroughbred Report (TTR) | Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Million-dollar yearling Caballus (I Am Invincible) put a luckless debut run behind him with an impressive win in Saturday’s ATC Thank You Trainers H. at Randwick. Ridden by James McDonald for trainer Chris Waller, the colt launched a powerful finish from well back in the field to score by 0.06l.
The race produced a remarkable trifecta for this season’s Champion Sire I Am Invincible, with the highly rated Estriella finishing second and Shaken crossing the line in third. This weekend marked a notable milestone for Yarraman Park Stud’s megastar stallion, who was represented by his 200th individual winner from 377 runners during the season.
Caballus was offered by Bhima Thoroughbreds at the 2022 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, where he was bought for $1 million by Tom Magnier. The promising youngster is raced by the powerful partnership of Coolmore, Wynaus, Westerberg, Joe Poulin, Sir Peter Vela, Chris Waller Racing, Lynque, Woppitt Bloodstock, Peachester Lodge, Kerry and Jenny Pooley, Rockingham Thoroughbreds and Robert McClure.
Caballys as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
“Caballus won very nicely on Saturday,” Bhima’s Mike Fleming told TTR AusNZ.
“He was bred by Reg Ryan, and he was foaled and reared by Verna Metcalfe at Middlebrook Farm, so we had a relatively small part to play in his story, compared to some others that we rear and look after all the way through the process.
“But we were very fortunate to have the opportunity to consign this colt on behalf of his breeder. He was always a lovely young horse. It was very pleasing to see him go to such a great home at the sale, and now he’s gone on to make a very promising start to his racing career.
“He’s one of a handful of horses that we’ve sold for his breeder, and it’s always a privilege to be associated with quality young horses like him.”
Mike Fleming | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Caballus completed a successful season for graduates of Bhima’s 2022 yearling drafts. Others to make an impact as 2-year-olds include the standout colt Militarize (NZ) (Dundeel {NZ}), who won three of his five starts including the G1 Sires’ Produce S. and Champagne S.
Free Beer (Astern), Invincible Alf (Brazen Beau) and West Of Dalby (Santos) all won races, while Extreme Threat (Extreme Choice) had only two starts for a third in the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (Fillies) and a fifth in the G1 Blue Diamond.
“It’s been a solid season for the 2-year-olds, headed by what Militarize was able to achieve,” Fleming said. “We’re really looking forward to seeing him come back for his 3-year-old season. It’s hard to say this for a colt who won two Group 1 races as a 2-year-old, but he still looks quite untapped as well. He hopefully has a very exciting season ahead of him.
“Henry (Field) and his team do a great job with the horses that they buy. We do all that we can to give the horses the best possible start, but they then need to get into the right hands and the right stables to allow them to really fulfil their potential on the track. That partnership has repeatedly shown that they can do that.”
