Maher hoping he’s landed Booker prize with A$2.5 million I Am Invincible colt

Ciaron Maher is dreaming big with the most expensive yearling he has ever bought, hoping to add many multiples in value to the A$2.5 million (£1.42m/€1.6m) I Am Invincible colt out of Oakleigh Plate winner Booker in the seasons to come.

The premier Victorian training partnership of Maher and David Eustace gained the support of a number of prominent investors to purchase the Coolmore-bred and sold colt, day four’s highest-priced lot at the 2023 Magic Millions Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast, a session which generated another five seven-figure lots.

The much talked about colt, the first foal out of the former Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra-trained sprinter Booker, spearheaded the session, but fillies by I Am Invincible, Snitzel, Darley first-season shuttler Too Darn Hot and Zoustar were also sold for A$1m or more.

It continued the unquenching thirst for top-quality bloodstock at the southern hemisphere’s season-opening sale, where the I Am Invincible-Anaheed colt sold on Thursday has the sale-topping honour to date at A$2.7m.

Seven other colts have made seven figures, while ten fillies have reached the benchmark, a demonstration of the rising value of quality bloodstock globally.

Maher and Eustace have bought 20 yearlings so far this week - they bought 36 in total at the Gold Coast in 2022 - but they stepped up further than they ever have before for Friday’s session topper.

Maher said: “He was, I thought, one of the very obvious colts of the sale. Out of a really fast mare, a two-year-old winning mare.

“He's I Am Invincible and a smashing type. I saw him on the farm up at Coolmore very early on before he started his prep and I was very keen to get him into the stable.

“With that pedigree he was always going to be a high price, and we had a bit more to go as well.

“Ideally, he’ll win a Slipper and a Coolmore. I’m really looking forward to it.”

The trainers have enjoyed success with the progeny of champion stallion I Am Invincible, most notably through the deeds of Group 1-winning sprinter Loving Gaby, whose first foal by Pierata also joined the stable earlier this week for a price tag of A$800,000.

Maher hopes his belief in the sire is rewarded in the seasons to come.

“They’re only expensive if they’re slow and hopefully he’s not that,” he said.

“We’ve had some super horses through the stable [by I Am Invincible]. We’ve got a really nice colt now called Garza Blanca, Loving Gaby was a banner horse and hopefully this bloke is the next one.”

Woppitt Bloodstock’s Debbie Kepitis has committed to the syndicate, while Coolmore will retain a share in the partnership being put together by Maher’s bloodstock manager Will Bourne.

Tom Magnier: 'He was a lovely colt and all the right people were on him'Credit: Mark Evans (Getty Images)

Another colts partnership is believed to have been the underbidder.

Coolmore Australia principal Tom Magnier, backing up the high pre-sale opinion of the colt held by Magic Millions’ Barry Bowditch, was in raptures about his credentials.

“I’d say he’s the best horse we’ve ever put through a sale ring," said Magnier. "Obviously we sold Winx and she’s one of the greatest of all time, and, as a looker, this guy is right up there.

"He was a lovely colt and all the right people were on him. Ciaron loved him, Chris Waller loved him.

“Listen, A$2.5 million is a great price for any horse, so we’re delighted. Will Bourne has put a syndicate together and they came up to us asking, ‘Would we keep a bit of him?’

“We’ve had huge belief in this colt the whole way through, so we’re delighted to be a part of him.”

Yulong aside, no breeder has invested more money in high-end Australasian mares in recent years than Coolmore, and that investment is starting to pay off.

Booker, a sister to stakes winner Banquo, was bought for A$1.6m at the 2020 Inglis Chairman’s Sale by Magnier.

“We went out to buy these mares to get behind our stallions and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

“Our hashtag is the Home of Champions and we’re trying to live up to that.”

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