I Am Unstoppable
Prior to 2022, it had been a while (17 years to be exact) since a three-year-old had won the Lightning Stakes.
Coolmore Stud Stakes winning colt Home Affairs changed that when edging out stablemate and the previous year’s winner Nature Strip and if there were to be a three-year-old line up in this year’s edition I Am Unstoppable seems the likeliest.
His past three runs were all down the straight and he came so close to winning one, running second in all three attempts in the Poseidon, Danehill and Coolmore.
While no match for Ozzmosis on the day, I Am Unstoppable was his usual game self, running the fastest last 200m of the race and profiles as the sharp sort of horse suited to the Lightning Stakes, akin to Buenos Noches last year who brought a near identical profile.
While he’d need to improve again to be tackling the likes of Imperatriz, I Am Unstoppable appears one of the more likely three-year-olds to have a crack.
Bella Nipotina
The Group 1 winning mare won’t be running scared of Imperatriz, according to trainers Ciaron Maher & David Eustace. She’s run behind the ‘tangerine terror’ twice now, running second in the William Reid Stakes and fifth in the Champions Sprint but was very good in last year’s Lightning Stakes, beaten just half a length in third.
She’s now remarkably had 43 starts and proved that she’s going better than ever, flying home to beat Private Eye and Everest winner Think About It in the ‘Giga Kick Stakes’ at Rosehill just two starts ago.
Her effort in the Champions Sprint was very good, running the fastest last 600m and 400m of the race when only two lengths behind Imperatriz and the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes has already been flagged as her first up run.
Competition is what makes great racing and it will be fantastic to see Bella, along with these other top sprinters line up to face a horse like Imperatriz in the Lightning Stakes.