Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Trainer Lloyd Kennewell teamed up with syndicators Blueblood Thoroughbreds to buy juvenile colt and Listed Merson Cooper Stakes winner Eternal Warrior (Extreme Warrior) from The Chase at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale.
It felt like I was buying an Extreme Choice
The appeal for Kennewell was how much Eternal Warrior reminded him of his grandsire Extreme Choice.
“I’ve had a few Extreme Choices who’ve been good to me and he was right in that mould of an Extreme Choice type. He’s obviously by Extreme Warrior with his grandsire being Extreme Choice. To me, he was a good type for us to buy, and it was the first horse I’d teamed up with Blueblood Thoroughbreds to buy,” Kennewell said.
“He was the one horse we targeted together, and it was a really good way to kick off a relationship with them - to get a horse like that and then put a plan together to win the Merson Cooper first up.”
Lloyd Kennewell | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Eternal Warrior won over $112,000 with his Listed Merson Cooper victory, giving his ownership group an immediate financial return. And that’s without his residual value as a stakes-winning colt who is a grandson of a Blue Diamond winner from the family of a Blue Diamond winner.
“He’s neat, like Extreme Choice. He’s a bit bigger than Extreme Choice. Just. He’s the right mould for a 2-year-old, that’s why we targeted him. He’s a sharp type with a big pedigree, going back to Perfect Persuasion and Alinghi, it's huge.”
Eternal Warrior is the first foal of winning mare Devout Hero (No Nay Never {USA}) who has a Russian Revolution yearling filly. This is the family of Champion 3YO Filly and triple Group 1 winner Alinghi (Encosta De Lago) who won the 2004 G1 Blue Diamond. Alinghi is a full sister to Perfect Persuasion, the second dam of Eternal Warrior.
Eternal Warrior as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“We felt he was the right cross. I felt I was buying an Extreme Choice out of that pedigree. David and the team at Blueblood Thoroughbreds were keen to team up with him.”
The partnership with Blueblood Thoroughbreds
For some context on the price, $80,000 is more than double the $32,000 median price at the 2025 Magic Millions Adelaide sale, however there were 37 lots at the sale who sold for $100,000 or more. Coincidentally, the top price at the 2025 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale was $350,000 for a Zoustar filly purchased by Blueblood Thoroughbreds and Ciaron Maher Racing.
“I said, do you want to race a horse together? We both liked the Extreme Warrior colt, and it’s worked out well that the first one (we have together) is off and running,” said David Mourad of Blueblood Thoroughbreds.
David Mourad | Image courtesy of Import Racing
“He was such a well grown yearling. He looked so forward, like you could almost put a saddle on him then, and we had a fair idea that he’d make a 2-year-old even if we weren’t sure how early he might get there. You never know with the young ones, they can be a bit touch and go.”
Eternal Warrior had a jumpout at Cranbourne over 800 metres at the start of November, running third to Almost An Angel (So You Think {NZ}) and Golden Pulse (NZ) (Tivaci). He then trialled on the Caulfield Heath track on November 20, again over 800 metres, and was second to Alibaba (Alabama Express), who ran third in Saturday’s Listed Merson Cooper.
Nine days later, he’s a stakes winner on debut!
“He was just a powerful colt and looked ready to go. We contemplated Magic Millions (2YO Classic) but he might not have enough in the tank to get to January, and if we give him a breather now, the Blue Diamond is obviously a Group 1 and he could be very valuable going down that path.”
As syndicators, Blueblood Thoroughbreds put together packages for their horses, typically with all 20 owner slots in the book being filled up. For Eternal Warrior, one owner was more than keen.
“We have less owners than normal in him. One lady, Helen Olsen, owns a bit over half the horse which is a bit unusual for us. It’s not often someone buys that big of a portion in a horse. We have about 15 (owners) in the horse.”
Kennewell tips him early
Keen readers of TTR might be thinking, this horse seems familiar, and it’s because Kennewell tipped him to us back in September when we ran a Stable Tours feature with him.
“He looks a real sharp 2-year-old, he is in training now, he is superbly bred, out of Alinghi’s family, and it is a very good family, and I like him a lot and he could be early enough. I like the way he is going,” Kennewell said in September.
When it was pointed out on Sunday, Kennewell laughed. “I hope he (the writer) got the $50 on him!”
As for what is next for Eternal Warrior, it’s the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes. “I’m letting the dust settle. I’m actually in Japan for the Japan Cup today. I was very keen to get here and watch it this year,” Kennewell said.
“He’ll head out for a little freshen up at Merricks Station for the next 10 days and my gut feel is the plan is the Blue Diamond, not the Magic Millions. We’ll just get him ready for the lead ups. It’s worked before with a few winners of the Merson Cooper.”
The last winner of both the Merson Cooper and the Blue Diamond was Little Brose (Per Incanto {USA}) in 2022. The 2023 Merson Cooper winner Eneeza (Exceed And Excel) ran fourth in the G1 Blue Diamond, while in 2020 the winner Anamoe ran third in Blue Diamond before going on to win nine Group 1 races.
Little Brose | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“He’s quite workmanlike, this horse, he works well, he does everything you want, but he’s not setting the world on fire (at home). But then when you raise the bar, he just did it. He’s very workmanlike in his efforts. He just does it without any fuss.
“And he’s a bit up and about, he loves himself and he knows what to do, but he doesn’t carry on. He didn’t throw the race away. He did it all the right way and I loved his last 50 metres where he put the head out, stretched his neck and wanted to win. After drawing the widest barrier and having the widest run, he was terrific.”
Magic Millions Adelaide as a good hunting ground
Kennewell has had good luck buying from the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale. “Adelaide has been a fantastic sale ground every year. Viddora was the best horse I trained, and she was a multiple Group 1 winner and raced around the world for me. She was a $40,000 horse out of Adelaide.”
Viddora (I Am Invincible) is from Vinnie’s second crop, hence the bargain price, as it was another 12 months before I Am Invincible really began to hit his straps and head towards his Champion Sire titles.
Viddora won nine races and over $2.8 million, including the 2017 G1 Winterbottom Stakes and 2018 G1 AJ Moir Stakes. Her final two starts were overseas. She ran fourth to Blue Point (Ire) in the 2019 G1 Al Quoz Sprint and then ran in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize in Hong Kong.
Viddora | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
On retirement she was sold at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale for $2.55 million to Yulong. Her second foal, and current 3-year-old colt Grand Prairie (Written Tycoon) recently won the G3 Up & Coming Stakes.
“I’ve had multiple stakes winners out of Adelaide. It’s a very good hunting ground for good, quality horses at not big prices. Obviously it’s one of those sales where either the pedigree or the type doesn’t match up.
“It’s a type sale, you have to buy on type. I was pretty lucky with this guy. Matt Becker of Group 1 Bloodstock, who is my bloodstock agent, we both thought he was the best colt on the sale ground. He was the sharp 2-year-old type that we wanted, and he had a big pedigree but being by Extreme Warrior, people were a little hesitant to pay more than what we paid for him.”
First season sire Extreme Warrior was stakes-placed in his first two starts at two, training on to win the G3 Blue Sapphire Stakes as a spring 3-year-old. Eternal Warrior is his second winner, the other being Blandford Baron. Blandford Baron was a $100,000 graduate of the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, and to date, the most paid for an Extreme Warrior yearling has been $160,000. This might change now his first crop have showed such promise this early in proceedings.
Extreme Warrior | Standing at Rosemont Stud
China Horse Club thrilled with Extreme Warrior’s start
China Horse Club’s The Chase was the vendor of Eternal Warrior. He is the first foal of winning mare Devout Hero (No Nay Never {USA}) who has a Russian Revolution yearling filly. This is the family of Champion 3YO Filly and triple Group 1 winner Alinghi (Encosta De Lago) who won the 2004 G1 Blue Diamond. Alinghi is a full sister to Perfect Persuasion, the second dam of Eternal Warrior.
“He just needed a little bit of time. We’ve had good luck selling horses in Adelaide and we thought he’d fit well in the draft there. He’s the second stakes horse we’ve sold there,” said China Horse Club’s Michael Smith.
“We sold a nice filly called Shadhavar to Joe from Prime, and another horse called Dark And Confidential who has won over $250,000. We thought he was a neat colt who would fit well into that sale. He was a really athletic horse, good moving, good brain, and well done to Lloyd Kennewell and Blueblood for buying him.”
Michael Smith | Image courtesy of China Horse Club
China Horse Club raced Devout Hero in partnership with others, having purchased her in utero with her dam stakes-placed Perfect Persuasion for $250,000 at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. Devout Hero was a winner on debut at Geelong as a spring 3-year-old.
“She was quite a big masculine mare. Anthony and Sam Freedman trained her. She was only a winner in the end, but she had a lot of ability and ran in a few stakes races but never quite got there herself. She’s done the job now.
“Unfortunately, she’s no longer with us, but the legacy of Perfect Persuasion and Alinghi will live on through this colt. It’s a good precocious family.”
Perfect Persuasion is the dam of three stakes-placed winners being G3 Gimcrack Stakes-placed Perfect Proposal (Russian Revolution) who was bred by China Horse Club, G3 Ming Dynasty-placed Lady Sharapova (Fastnet Rock) and Listed Stutt Stakes-placed Papillon (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}).
Perfect Proposal | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“We are partners with Rosemont in the stallion, and a big believer in Extreme Choice and are a significant shareholder in him as well. We thought it would be a good mating for the mare first up, and neaten her up a little bit. It’s come off beautifully for everyone.
“We want our partners like Rosemont and people who buy horses off us, like Lloyd and Blueblood, to have success. That’s what it’s all about. We bring our entire foal crop to the market, and we want them to do well.
“It’s always nice to have a 2-year-old stakes winner going into sales season.”
