Just twenty-four hours after the passing of Wexford Stables figurehead Dave “DJ” O’Sullivan, the New Zealand training icon would have been looking down on Te Rapa with a beaming smile as promising filly I’munstoppable led from go to whoa to capture the Gr.3 Inglis Sales Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) for the Matamata operation.
Prepared by O’Sullivan’s fellow New Zealand Hall of Fame member and son Lance alongside Andrew Scott, the three-year-old daughter of Charm Spirit led her age group rivals a merry dash throughout in the hands of Sam Spratt.
Spratt bounced her out nicely from barrier five and enjoyed an uncontested lead, quickening nicely around the home bend where she established a three-length break on her nearest rival.
Rank outsider Our Absolute ($61) got closest to the flying I’munstoppable but she was still over three lengths in arrears at the winning post with Impendabelle shading Eqyptian Queen for third.
“Early in the spring we thought she was up to this (level) but she was getting things wrong,” Andrew Scott said.
“She has built well for this with her last run a fortnight ago, then a week out on the farm before coming back in good form.
“It’s good team effort by everyone and I’m so pleased for John and Julie (McLachlan, owners) as they have been so patient with her.
“That is her ability as she can really burn, and she will be a good Kiwi sprinter when she is four and five.
“Around Ellerslie three starts ago she was a bit stiff and today she has just run them into the ground.”
Spratt was delighted a pre-race game plan had worked to perfection.
“She doesn’t mind the sting out of the ground and there wasn’t any real speed in the race so both Scotty and I thought we could lead,” she said.
“It all panned out well as she came up underneath me fine, although halfway up the straight I thought she might be shortening stride, but she had the others under plenty of strife.
“I knew she could skip through the ground and sneak away so it was lovely we could manage to do that.”
Bred and raced by John McLachlan and his wife Julie-Anne, I’munstoppable is out of their Rip Van Winkle mare Sisterella, who is a daughter of Gr.2 Awapuni Gold Cup (2000m) placegetter Arabian Nights.
She is the older half-sister of two-year-old Belardo gelding Lachie who ran fourth on debut in the second race on the card, and has now won three of her eight starts and $97,000 in prizemoney.
The victory provided the O’Sullivan-Scott partnership with a double on the day and broke their previous season’s best winning tally with the duo now sitting at 50 wins for the year.