Stud-bound Impending bags valuable Queensland Group 2 win

Group One-winning sprinter Impending delivered a timely reminder of his considerable talent as he unleashed his impressive turn of foot to overcome trouble and land the Group 2 Victory Stakes at Doomben in Queensland on Saturday.

The James Cummings-trained four-year-old is set to take his place on Darley’s Victorian stallion roster later this year but has been sent to Queensland in a bid to enhance his appeal to breeders with some further stakes success.

Saturday's win tees the son of Lonhro up perfectly for the final chapter of his racing career, which will see him contest three consecutive Group 1 contests.

The Doomben 10,000 in a fortnight's time is the first of the three, followed by the Kingsford-Smith Cup and finally the Stradbroke Handicap, a race he won 12 months ago.

"They are all Group 1 races and he will contest them all," said Godolphin managing director Vin Cox. "He won last year's Stradbroke and we were always keen to give him a chance at repeating that.

"He is off to stud at the end of the winter and more Group 1 wins won't do him any harm."

A Darley homebred, Impending has bagged more than A$1.8 million in prize-money during his career to date and is one of six foals out of five-time stakes winner Mnemosyne, who was victorious in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas and Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes during her career.

By Australia’s leading broodmare sire in Encosta De Lago, Mnemosyne is a daughter of Listed winner My Juliet.

Impending is one of ten Group 1 winners and 74 individual stakes winners for his sire Lonhro, who will once again stand at Darley’s Kelvinside property in New South Wales this year. Lonhro’s most recent Group 1 winner was the Cummings-trained three-year-old Kementari, who won last month’s Randwick Guineas.

Impending’s introductory service fee will be A$22,000 (including GST).

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