I Am Immortal Archives - Swettenham Stud

Immortal’s momentum for new season

The team behind I Am Immortal is happy to back their young stallion in ahead of what shapes as a make-or-break spring.

Swettenham Stud’s General Manager of Operations and Nominations, Sam Matthews, said that while he initially predicted the horse to make more of an impact with early runners, he is nonetheless excited by his late-season emergence.

I Am Immortal had four individual two-year-old winners from only 15 runners last season, including a bumper July in which Timeless Gem, Southern Lass and I Am Velvet broke their respective maidens.

The latter added the VOBIS Ingot at her next start and is rated $26 in Sportsbet’s all-in market for the Group 1 Thousand Guineas.

While I Am Immortal himself was a dual Stakes winner at two, Matthews said all indications from trainers with progeny by the stallion is that his horses are larger, strong types that will improve into their three-year-old seasons.

“It’s validating to see that recent success when you put your money on the line to go and buy these stallions,” Matthews said.

“In this case, seeing I Am Immortal have some success with his late-season two-year-olds is fantastic but it’s probably not exactly what we expected.

“We expected them to be earlier, pre-Christmas two-year-olds but by Christmas he’d only had a couple of runners.

“They’re probably going to be better three-year-olds and I stuffed up a bit by saying that they were only going to be early two-year-olds.

“He’s 16.2hh and he’s 620-odd kilograms, so he’s a big horse and he throws big horses.

“They’re fast racehorses, they’re big and strong but they probably just take a bit more time than we expected.”

WATCH: I Am Velvet, a filly by I Am Immortal, wins the VOBIS Gold Ingot

I Am Immortal’s champion sire I Am Invincible hadn’t produced a two-year-old G1 winner until last season and Matthews said there remains plenty of optimism in the horse given the size of the books he’s served in recent seasons.

After serving 116 mares in his debut season in 2020, I Am Immortal served 96 mares in 2021, 100 mares in 2022 and a career-high 121 mares last spring.

Matthews is confident the performances of the stallion’s progeny on the racetrack over the coming weeks and months will help prompt mare bookings, but he also hinted his team is happy to negotiate with breeders this season to ensure I Am Immortal is again well supported.

“Last year was definitely his busiest season, he covered 120 mares, which was fantastic,” he said.

“This year, he could cover 30 mares or he could cover 150 mares, it really depends on his results on the racetrack.

“That’s where this season is vital, we need to keep the numbers up and we’re happy to look after breeders to ensure that we can keep the numbers up.

“If he has a quiet spring and he only covers 30 or 40 mares, it makes it very difficult for him to come back from that.

“The market is tough and although we’re not a farm that traditionally deals very heavily, we’re happy to look after people with the right mares and get an inexpensive service fee for a horse that looks like he’s doing the job.”

I Am Immortal stands for $13,750 on a Swettenham roster that also includes pin-up Toronado ($88,000), Rubick ($27,500) and newcomer Lofty Strike ($22,000).

06/08/2024/by swet1admin

I Am Immortal, News

Velvet shows Guineas qualities

Article written by Andrew Eddy from Racing.com on 27 July 2024:

It was hardly perfectly executed, but the win at Caulfield by the unbeaten filly I Am Velvet has forced a rethink of the filly’s immediate future with the spring’s Thousand Guineas looming as a possible goal.

After two wins at her home track of Pakenham, I Am Velvet travelled to Caulfield on Saturday to win over the 1400-metre trip despite continuing to lay-in badly in the home straight.

Trainer Phil Stokes added a bubble cheeker to her gear to help her go straight, but she again lugged in repeatedly before jockey Daniel Stackhouse could ride her out to the line for what turned out to be a soft victory.

Breeder Darren Dance was on hand for the victory, and he said that despite her tendency to run to the rail, she was a filly of immense promise.

“You would think if she went perfectly straight and did everything right, she’d have a few lengths up her sleeve, but until we do that, we aren’t going to reach any great heights,” Dance said.

“She’s not dirty, it’s just a habit and one that I am sure Phil is going to be working on hard to get her out of.

“The Thousand Guineas wouldn’t be out of the question. Being at the back end of the carnival, Phil might want to take a month doing some dressage or the like to try and clean her act up a bit and then target her there.”

Dance said it was a hunch that led him to keep I Am Velvet’s dam Black Velveteen to breed with.

“Mick Kent had the mother,” Dance explained. “She won a race at Sandown one day and flew home and ran a really fast time.

“Normally, I wouldn’t keep a mare with a moderate pedigree like this, but she was such a lovely mare, so I thought ‘I’ll just keep her and breed a few out of her’.

“The first foal out of her was Tobaysure and he won $250,000 and has just been retired now.

“We lost the second foal and she’s the third foal and she looks a bit special.

“I just wanted to breed to race and so I went back to her genetic family and tried to pick out the right sire line and I just liked the Invincible Spirit cross with Domesday.

“That’s why I went to Cable Bay, then I went to I Am Immortal and now Shalaa because I believe they match best with her genetic make-up.”

I Am Velvet started at $3.30 but had the measure of the $1.75 favourite Dom to beat him 1.5 lengths with Cavity Bay ($26) a half-length away third.

Click to watch the replay below