Iminastate facing key Spring Stakes test
More than a black-type breakthrough is at stake for Iminastate (NZ) (Sword Of State) in Saturday’s A$250,000 Gr.3 NZB Spring Stakes (1600m) at Newcastle, with his performance helping determine whether he remains a colt.
The Richard and Will Freedman-trained three-year-old broke his maiden over 1600m at Kembla Grange last start, following a runner-up finish on Randwick’s Kensington track.
Prepared at Rosehill, Iminastate will be partnered by Tim Clark from barrier one as he steps into stakes company with a record of one win and three placings from seven starts.
“We're unsure whether he's a better horse as a colt or a gelding, so there is more than just the race on the line for him,” Will Freedman said.
“If he could win or run a close second, we'd consider keeping him an entire.
“If he doesn't, I think he'll be a better gelding, and you'll see a better horse in the autumn.”
Freedman said the threat of a gelding procedure had less to do with Iminastate’s manners and more to do with his concentration.
“He's not all that 'colty', he just gets a bit distracted and lacks a bit of focus,” he said.
“Sometimes it's a maturity thing, so we're allowing him to figure it out.
“Sometimes the penny can drop quicker than you think.”
Iminastate was rated a $7.50 chance in the 10-horse field behind the Desleigh Forster-trained Kickup Rocky (Better Than Ready), who headed betting at $2.50.
“He's in the right race,” Freedman said.
“He's drawn kindly.
“Probably if he didn't draw well, we might have gone back to the provincials, but they're only three once and it's the end of the spring, so he's getting his chance.
“He's progressing the right way.”
Iminastate is out of the More Than Ready mare Imanana, whose dam Imananabaa (Anabaa) was a Group One-winning sprinter. Imananabaa won five races, including the Gr.1 Railway Handicap (1200m), Listed Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) and James & Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes (1400m), amassing more than NZ$326,000 and A$57,000 in prizemoney.
Iminastate was purchased by Richard and Will Freedman for NZ$100,000 from Cambridge Stud’s draft at the 2025 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka.
