Inglis, Magic Millions and New Zealand Bloodstock will be asked to fight for the right to sell the 10-time Group 1 winning mare EmpireThe highest earning livestock prospect ever sold at public auction in Australasia.
It was mixed emotions indeed when Te Akau Racing announced the retirement of our star horse and champion, Imperatriz.
Currently Imperatriz is rated the #1 sprinter in the world and #2 overall on the TRC Global Rankings.
In 2023, Imperatriz has won more Group 1 races (6) than any other… pic.twitter.com/vwHClt0EwK
– Te Akau Racing (@TeAkauRacing) April 11, 2024
Te Akau made the shock announcement on April 11 that the rising six-year-old, who overcame all before her in an unbeaten spring campaign in Melbourne and added two more 1s to her record her in the fall, ran her last race.
It was only on April 7 that Te Akau principal David Ellis spoke about Imperatriz’s prospects of conquering the spring’s A$20 million Everest, but an extensive veterinary examination followed the campaign. on the way to the New Zealand spelling bee revealed that “wear and tear”. ” caught up with her and the ownership group “wasn’t willing to risk her”.
The Mark Walker-trained Imperatriz finished gallantly fourth the previous day in the TJ Smith Stakes (G1).
Inglis’s Chairman’s Sale, scheduled for May 9, or its digital platform could be part of the sale if the company gets a chance to offer Imperatriz , while the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale will also be on the minds of owners .
Speaking to ANZ Bloodstock News, Ellis did not completely rule out a private sale of Imperatriz, before adding: “We like transparency, that’s how Te Akau works and that’s how we intend to sell her .
“I would certainly say we sell horses privately, but that’s not how we’re going to sell Imperatriz at this stage.”
Ellis continued: “We sold Avantage on Gavelhouse, she achieved a world record online price of A$4.1 million and we sold Melody Belle for Magic Millions.
“We will ask all the sales companies to provide us with how they promote and sell her, and then we will make a decision in the next few weeks on where she will go.”
Ellis and his wife Karyn spent the morning calling Imperatriz’s owners to inform them of their mare’s immediate retirement.
“Despite their disappointment, they were delighted and grateful for the enormous thrill that Imperatriz had given them,” he said.
“She’s just a great ambassador for our stable and it’s great that she’s been handled so well by Mark Walker and Ben Gleeson (at Cranbourne) and the whole team in New Zealand. They’ve done a great job with she.”
Winner of 19 of 27 races started and winner of A$6.969 million in prize money, the Raffles Racing-bred and Bhima-bred Imperatriz was purchased by Ellis for A$360,000 at the Sale Magic Millions Gold Coast annual price 2020.
Her dam Berimbau (Shamardal) was purchased for A$1.8 million at the 2023 Inglis Chairman’s Sale while her yearling foal capitalist earned A$200,000 on the Gold Coast last January.
Inglis last year won the rights from the champion horse owner winx sold her only surviving foal, a daughter of Pierro at the Inglis Easter Year Sale in Australia after putting together an extensive brochure on why she should be offered at the Sydney sale.
That created worldwide attention after co-breeder Debbie Kepitis’ Woppitt Bloodstock paid A$10 million to buy out her co-owners Peter Tighe and the family of Richard Treweeke too trying to get a “collector’s item”.
