Carnival Sale-Topper Impresses
14 August 2007
The Sale-topper�(pictured) from the Carnival Yearling Sale at Karaka last March was one of the star performers at the Te Teko trials mid-last week.
The colt by hot international sire Invincible Spirit from Muffin McLay recorded the fastest time of the five juvenile heats over 600 metres.
Ridden by Michael Walker, the youngster proved too swift for his five rivals, scoring by four lengths from his stablemate Nuke Time, a Choisir - Chloella colt also from the Carnival Sale.�
Sold through the Esker Lodge draft, the Invincible Spirit colt was bought by David Ellis for $120,000 and is part of the Fortuna Syndication, managed by John Galvin. He is trained by Mark Walker, who saddled up six two-year-olds for four wins and two seconds.
The second placegetter was also an Esker Lodge graduate bought by Ellis at the same Sale, this time for $50,000.
"I bought five yearlings for John to syndicate and two trialled today and they both won," said Ellis.
"Mark (Walker) and I have really targeted the Karaka Million at Ellerslie with a lot of our purchases. We've got them up a bit earlier this year."
"We've got three Redoute's Choices and four Encosta De Lagos coming up well, too. Today was a great start for us."
The other Fortuna Syndicate runner today was He's Licarocket, a colt by Easy Rocking who was bought by Ellis from the Karaka Select Sale for $80,000 from the Wellfield Lodge draft. The youngster lived up to his name when showing plenty of speed to lead his rivals a merry chase, scoring by four lengths from a Storm Creek - Serendipity filly in the Graeme Rogerson/Garry Newham stable.
"He'll probably go to the first two-year-old race at Wanganui (on September 8) or go to Ruakaka a week later," said Mark Walker.
Walker's other juvenile trials winners were La Mersonet and a Volksraad - Chianina filly, both sold at Karaka by Tom & Shelley Murtagh's Esker Lodge.
La Mersonet is a Hussonet filly from Cheesin bought for $92,500 by Ellis at the Premier Sale at Karaka this year, while the Volksraad filly was bought by Michael Otto Bloodstock for $46,000 from the Karaka Carnival Yearling Sale.