GSP Ittetsu (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), a millionaire and winner of six of his 26 starts in Japan, was purchased by Jamie Lovett’s Australian Bloodstock with his long-term goal the A$13-million The Everest during the Australian spring, news.com.au reported. Also bought with an eye toward The Championships in April, Ittetsu will be trained by Darren Weir. Among his victories is a 1200-metre win at Sapporo in 1:07.7.
“We have had our eye on Ittetsu for a few months,” Lovett told The Daily Telegraph on Monday night of the G3 Keihan Hai third. “We feel he has the speed and ability to be a big chance in The Everest later this year. Some of our clients were keen to get involved in The Everest after we had Brave Smash (Jpn) (Tosen Phantom {Jpn}) run third in the race last year and Ittetsu has been purchased with that race in mind. The plan is to bring the horse to Sydney. He will go into quarantine at Canterbury and come out four days before [G1] The Galaxy [at Rosehill on Mar. 24]. All going well, he will then go to the [G1] TJ Smith S. [at Randwich on Apr. 7] and then we hope to get him to The Everest in the spring.”