'Very Versatile' Invader Gets First Group 1 Win at Stud

Saturday was a day to remember for the connections of Sunshine In Paris (AUS) in the Surround Stakes (G1), but her win meant just as much to Aquis Farm who stand the filly's sire Invader (AUS), handing him his first group 1 win at stud. Sunshine In Paris is small, but she showed plenty of grit and a will to win as she took brave runs between horses to score on the line, beating stakes-winning filly Ruthless Dame (NZ) and group 1-winning fillies In Secret (AUS) and Zougotcha (AUS), with just a head separating the four horses. This win came after a narrow second placing to In Secret in the Light Fingers Stakes (G2), giving both the connections and Aquis hope that she would capture that timely group 1 victory. Aquis Farm's director of sales Jonathan Davies was thrilled with the win for Invader and expressed his high opinion of Sunshine In Paris. "She is as brilliant as she is tenacious. Just an absolute ripper," Davies told ANZ Bloodstock News. "For a stallion to get a group 1 winner from his first racing crop is everything that you want as a studmaster standing stallions. "We are very proud of Invader and thankful for the support he has received at stud." Invader is the only second-season sire in Australia to produce a group 1-winning 3-year-old, a feat which has him placed in fifth on the leading second-season sires' table. Covering more than 150 mares in his first season at stud (2018), the flashy chestnut averaged 115 mares in his three subsequent seasons, but last year breeders abandoned the son of Snitzel (AUS), the stallion's numbers plummeting to just 24 mares at an advertised fee of AUS$22,000. Davies said that the stallion was receiving some larger mares in his first season, while his second season saw a book with mares built more to attribute his racetrack assets, so the drop in numbers was just a 'dip' that many stallions receive as their first crop hit the racetrack. "In his first season at stud, he was supported with a lot of bigger mares... which meant that they were always going to produce horses that were going to take a little bit more time," Davies said. "They go to Invader to inject that speed into the progeny and we are now seeing an incredible season with his 3-year-olds. There is a filly called Invertational who is headed toward the Country Championships and she is an absolute ripper as well. "In his second season, he covered a really good book of mares who were a bit sharper. He has already had a good 2-year-old in Coincide and there are a few more still to step out. "This season was just a dip that stallions have at this time of their career, but I expect that to just be an anomaly in his book and he will continue to be well supported moving forward." Invader himself was a group 1-winning 2-year-old who was forward enough to compete in the Magic Millions, yet is now showing the adaptability at stud to have his progeny win at both 2 and 3. Davies said it was a testament to the stallion to be able to produce nice types to both the sharper and bigger mares, and that the results are now showing for themselves on the racetrack. "He is proven to be a very versatile stallion, probably more versatile than what people had originally thought," he added.