Widden Graduate First Immortal Wins Listed Anniversary Vase
Progressive stayer First Immortal has been promising to win a stakes race for some time and the four year-old son of Churchill (IRE) looks set for an outstanding preparation after resuming from a spell to win the Listed MRC Anniversary Vase (1600m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Touted as a lightweight Cups horse last year, the Mark and Levi Kavanagh trained gelding was second in the Group III VRC Bart Cummings missing a start in the Melbourne Cup and then finished his spring with a close seventh in the Group III Geelong Cup.
Returning bigger and stronger this time in, First Immortal was fresh and ready to fire first up at a mile and scored a neck win for Blake Shinn that will have him well placed for further stakes assignments, although spring targets are the long term goal this year.
It's a stakes victory for First Immortal 👏
The son of Churchill makes it eight wins from 16 starts 😎@Levi_MKavRacing @blake_shinn pic.twitter.com/0yetpRtzPZ
— Racing.com (@Racing) March 16, 2024
“He’s never won at a mile and never won first up, so we might be in for a bit of fun,” said Mark Kavanagh, who is already think ahead to the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups later in the year.
“He’ll have a light autumn into a couple of staying races and then ease up and look to the spring.”
A $160,000 Inglis Classic purchase for Kavanagh Racing from the Widden Stud draft, First Immortal has the overall record of eight wins from 16 starts and prizemoney topping $620,000.
He was foaled and raised at Widden and is the best of two winners from Storm Siren, a half-sister by Excites to Group I winner Hot King Prawn and Group III winner Siren’s Fury.
Widden Stud sold a Written By yearling colt from Storm Siren at Magic Millions this year for $220,000 to Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott/Kestrel Thoroughbreds and she was covered by St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) last spring after missing the previous year.
