
INVINCIBLE SPIRIT BECOMING IMPORTANT BROODMARE SIRE
The Irish National Stud’s Invincible Spirit is at the age of 27 a veteran stallion but he is only now beginning to make his mark as a broodmare sire. He is currently second among European broodmare sires in 2024 behind Galileo and just in front of Dubawi, Oasis Dream and Shamardal with 53 winners already including two black type winners and four stakes horses. In 2023 Invincible Spirit had a total of 31 black type performers as a broodmare sire including 18 Group performers and three Group 1 performers, figures which put him among the best in Europe.
If it has taken time for Invincible Spirit to make his mark in this domain it is not altogether surprising as he started out as a relatively cheap speed stallion before his exceptional results saw his stud fee rise to six figures. Invincible Spirit’s first crop as an expensive sire were born in 2009, so the mares produced that year were in the prime of their producing lives when this year’s three year old were born. He went on to stand at a six figure fee for six consecutive years from 2015 to 2020 producing nearly 600 foals and so there will be at least 250 very well bred daughters of Invincible Spirit the oldest of whom will be only just setting out on their stud career now.
Indeed Invincible Spirit’s record as a broodmare sire is beginning to resemble that of Pivotal and Danehill Dancer, two other top sires and broodmare sires who started off as relatively cheap speed sires. In both cases it took time for their daughters to match their own record of producing top horses, but once their well bred daughters reached maturity both did of course become outstanding broodmare sires.
In 2024 there has been a succession of good looking three year winners out of Invincible Spirit mares in Britain and France. In Britain Godolphin’s Dubawi colt Notable Speech is unbeaten in two starts as is the Roger Varian trained Phoenix of Spain filly Lady Of Spain, while Chasemore Farm’s Camelot filly Kitteridge won well at Newcastle. In France the Wertheimer brothers have had the Nathaniel filly Cetera and the No Nay Never colt Fanatic, both winners at Chantilly over 1600, while the Zarak filly Partir looked good at Cagnes. The Night of Thunder colt Holy See showed class at Chantilly before coming unstuck on heavy ground in a Listed at Saint Cloud.
Dubawi, Oasis Dream and Shamardal all reached more than fifteen Group 1 & 2 winners as a broodmare sire three or four years faster than Invincible Spirit, but then they were all covering high quality mares from the beginning of their stud careers. Invincible Spirit’s reputation as a broodmare sire has not be helped by the failure of his first two champion fillies, Fleeting Spirit and Moonlight Cloud, to reproduce their own brilliance, but it is always a mistake to take one or two examples as a trend. Invincible Spirit’s daughters are clearly on an upward graph now and with hundreds of other well bred daughters beginning to be covered his status as a broodmare sire will sooner rather than later become widely accepted.