Cover image courtesy of NZ Racing Desk
Trained by Tony Pike, the 2-year-old filly was bred by the Smithies family under their Monovale Holdings banner and was purchased by Brewers Bloodstock for NZ$80,000 at Book 1 of the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka National Yearling Sale earlier this year when offered as part of the Hallmark Stud draft.
Impendabelle is out of the juvenile Listed winner Applegate (Exceed And Excel), who was purchased on behalf of Joe Smithies by Andrew Williams Bloodstock (FBAA) for $60,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale when carrying the filly in utero.
Applegate, dam of Impendabelle, was purchased on behalf of Joe Smithies by Andrew Williams Bloodstock (FBAA) for $60,000 at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Since the sale, the page has continued to improve, with the mare’s fifth foal, Cloudy (Frosted {USA}), adding further punch to the pedigree with two stakes wins in the G3 SAJC Breeders' S. and Listed Dequetteville S. in the spring of 2021.
Exceed And Excel’s exploits as a broodmare sire are well documented and on Saturday alone daughters of the stallion produced five winners, with Impendabelle one of two stakes out of his mares by the son of Danehill (USA).
Smithies told TDN AusNZ the fact that Applegate was by the talented son of Danehill was a huge attraction to him when he browsed the catalogue before the sale.
Joe Smithies | Image courtesy of NZ Racing Desk
“You look at the page now and it has a lot of depth, with Cloudy and Applegate being a stakes-winning 2-year-old by Exceed And Excel herself, so it is a page with a fair bit of depth now.
“If you can have Exceed And Excel on the page that can get you off to a really good start and when we were going through the Magic Millions catalogue when we bought the mare that was one of the things that drew us to her.
“Since we’ve bought her Cloudy has become a stakes winner and now with Impendabelle, it is certainly looking like a lovely page now.
“Since we’ve bought her (Applegate) Cloudy has become a stakes winner and now with Impendabelle, it is certainly looking like a lovely page now.” - Joe Smithies
“With COVID-19 and lockdowns we couldn’t get over there, so we got Andrew Williams who does a bit of our work to bid on our behalf and we were rapt with the price at the time and it is looking like an exceptional buy now.”
Caught the eye
Smithies said he was impressed with the filly’s victory and recalled she had always been one that caught the eye during her early days in the paddock.
“It was a great thrill to watch her do that today (Saturday). She was a lovely filly all the way through and one that always caught your eye and she just developed into a lovely yearling,” said Smithies.
Impendabelle as a yearling | Image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock
“She probably undersold a little bit at NZ$80,000 at Karaka, but credit to Jim Brewer for picking her out because she was a nice filly.”
During the time of her sale, the then first-season sire Impending had only one winner to his name and Hallmark Stud’s Mark Baker was not surprised to see the 2-year-old produce the performance she did on Saturday.
“She was very precocious, strong and looked really early,” he told TDN AusNZ. “She was really well put together and used herself very well, with a terrific action. She was just a lovely type of filly.
“She (Impendabelle) was very precocious, strong and looked really early. She was really well put together and used herself very well, with a terrific action. She was just a lovely type of filly.” - Joe Smithies
“At the time of the sale Impending was obviously a first-season sire, who had had a few winners but hadn’t quite hit the straps, so she probably went to the back a bit.
“But being out of that sort of mare, we thought she would make a bit more because she had already done a lot herself and left a stakes winner. She had a great brain and was well coupled up. She always looked very quick.”
Impending | Standing at Darley
Perfect timing
In racing timing can make all the difference and for Smithies Saturday’s Group 2 win would have tasted all the sweeter given that he is preparing to sell the filly’s So You Think half-sister, as Lot 36, through Dave Duley’s Landsdowne Park draft at the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale (Book 1).
“The So You Think half-sister is with Lansdowne Park and Dave Duley, who does a brilliant job,” said Smithies. “She is a very nice sort and is a very forward looking So You Think and we are really happy with how she is handling the prep at this stage.
“We’ve got two So You Think fillies in the sale and the one out of Applegate is very similar to Impendabelle where the other one is more typical of a So You Think, who is out of a mare who we bought at the same sale. She is a very early looking So You Think, which is pleasing because it’s a very early family and it looks like a good mating based on the physical.”
“The So You Think half-sister is with Lansdowne Park and Dave Duley... She is a very early looking So You Think, which is pleasing because it’s a very early family and it looks like a good mating based on the physical.” - Joe Smithies
After missing to Contributer (Ire) last year, Applegate is in foal off an early cover to Cambridge Stud’s talented shuttler Almanzor (Fr) and Smithies said he has always been a huge admirer of the European-bred sire.
“His sales results have been fantastic and he’s left a Karaka Millions winner which is attractive with his type of family and he is going from strength to strength,” said Smities.
“We have a lot of confidence in Cambridge Stud and their selections of their stallion in particular Almanzor. We have had a share in him from day one and really like what we have seen so far.”
