Two European-bred sons of Invincible Spirit will arrive here this year inspired by the immediate success of I Am Invincible.

Sun Stud will shuttle French Group 1 winner National Defense (GB) to its Victorian base and Australian Bloodstock will set Japanese sprinter Ittetsu (Ire) for The Everest in October.

NATIONAL DEFENSE (4c Invincible Spirit – Angel Falls by Kingmambo) was purchased by Sun Bloodstock for €280,000 (AUD 413,640) at the 2015 Arqana August yearling sale and he repaid that price-tag the following year in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (1600m) at Chantilly.

He returned in 2017 for more elite level success but his classic ambitions were cut short after injuring a knee in the G1 French 2000 Guineas.  “He would have made a fantastic four-year-old,” recently-retired trainer Criquette Head-Maarek said.  “Would I have kept going if National Defense had stayed in training?  Yes, maybe.”

National Defense has been priced at a €12,000 (AUD 17,725) fee ahead of his first northern book at the Irish National Stud.

ITTETSU (6h Invincible Spirit – Temple Street by Machiavellian) will be trained by Darren Weir after being purchased by Australian Bloodstock in a deal brokered by Jamie Lovett.

“He will go into quarantine at Canterbury and race first-up in the (G1) The Galaxy,” Lovett said.  “All going well, he will go to the (G1) T J Smith Stakes and then we hope to get him to The Everest in the spring.”

Ittetsu was raced by Masamichi Hayashi to 6 wins in Japan.  He is a half-brother to Royal Ascot stakes winner Langs Lash and cost 110,000gns (AUD 193,610) during Book 1 of the 2013 Tattersalls yearling sale.  He was last seen finishing third in a Group 3 sprint at Kyoto in November.

The Invincible Spirit sireline has taken off in Australia through Yarraman Park sire I Am Invincible whose yearlings averaged $478,650 at last month’s Gold Coast Magic Millions.

ITTETSU