'A rare and valuable gem' - world’s highest-rated mare Imperatriz tipped to threaten longstanding sale record

Potential buyers of the world’s highest-rated mare Imperatriz have already visited the ten-time Group 1 winner at Te Akau Stud in New Zealand ahead of her sale next month, with expectations her value could soar to a record-breaking figure.

Magic Millions won the three-way battle to offer the champion mare on behalf of the David Ellis-led syndicate of owners, with the rising six-year-old mare to be sold in absentia at the company’s National Broodmare Sale on the Gold Coast in four weeks’ time. 

Imperatriz will be the showcase mare of the opening race fillies and mares session on Tuesday, May 28, with Te Akau principal Ellis and Imperatriz’s owners electing to partner with Magic Millions to auction the rare equine commodity.

Her presence at public auction could see the 16-year-old Australasian record of A$5 million (£2.6m/€3m) paid for a broodmare broken at the Gold Coast. Milanova sold for that figure in 2008 at an Inglis breeding stock sale.

Inglis and New Zealand Bloodstock’s online platform Gavelhouse had also tabled compelling proposals to Te Akau since it was announced 20 days earlier that Imperatriz’s glittering four-season racing career was over.

Imperatriz: "You’d think she has the credentials to break records"Credit: Vince Caligiuri

Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch, who visited Te Akau Stud last week to view Imperatriz in the flesh and clinch the deal, described securing the mare as a coup for the company.

Asked if she could eclipse Milanova’s price tag, Bowditch said: “You’d think she has the credentials to break records, yes."

Bowditch told ANZ Bloodstock News: “She’s well-bred, her pedigree’s there for all of us to see and her race record is quite outstanding. 

“When you put her ratings up globally against any mare in the world, she can stand up to any of them. 

“We’ve seen what these mares are worth, be that in Europe or what they make in America; when you equate that to our currency, she’s entitled to break records.”

The winner of almost A$7m in prize-money and 19 of her 27 starts, Imperatriz was retired after finishing fourth in the TJ Smith Stakes this month, with a routine veterinary examination upon her return to New Zealand revealing “wear and tear” issues, prompting the decision.

She is spelling in a paddock at Te Akau Stud, where she’ll remain until she’s sold. Ellis revealed some interested parties had already been to the farm to undertake inspections of the valuable mare. 

Live vision of her parading at Te Akau Stud will be broadcast at the Gold Coast sales complex when she goes under the hammer as a supplementary entry late on May 28. 

Ellis, who intends to be at the Gold Coast when Imperatriz is sold, said: “There is no doubt Imperatriz will attract global interest and will be the headline act of the auction calendar internationally. Currently rated the world's best mare, her outstanding achievements speak volumes about her exceptional talent and tenacity on the track

“She won more Group 1 races than any other horse worldwide in 2023, solidifying her status as one of the greatest race mares of recent decades. 

“Imperatriz will go under the hammer where her fairytale career began. I remember when I first inspected her in the Bhima Thoroughbreds' draft. I was instantly taken with her, so, in many ways, this is a fitting finale to a stellar career.  

Barry Bowditch: "There is no doubt she is a rare and valuable gem"Credit: Darren Tindale

“There is no doubt she is a rare and valuable gem.”

The offering of Imperatriz, who cost A$360,000 as a yearling, will almost certainly attract the interest of large commercial and private breeders from around the world, with investors from Japan, the US and Europe all tipped to at least do their due diligence before determining whether to bid on the mare.

The highest-priced mare sold at a Magic Millions mares’ sale is Sunlight, who made A$4.2m in 2020, when purchased by Coolmore.

“I haven’t been this excited about offering a mare since Sunlight and we’re looking forward to marketing her to the world and ensuring they understand how good a race mare she was and what her credentials as a broodmare are,” said Bowditch.

“As far as we’re concerned, she will stand up at a broodmare farm of the highest level anywhere in the world, and we look forward to engaging with as many buyers as we possibly can over the next three to four weeks about Imperatriz and/or the other offerings we’ve got at the National Sale.”

Imperatriz’s dam, the stakes-placed Berimbau, sold for A$1.8m at last year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale and she is now a member of the Yulong broodmare band.

The Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale race fillies and mares session has also attracted Group 1 winners Atishu, Belclare, Chain Of Lightning, Madame Pommery and Ulanova.

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