Aquis Farm young guns strike juvenile winners
Aquis Farm’s young stallions continued their end of season flourish as the Queensland stud celebrated metropolitan winners for two of their first season sires yesterday, with both Kobayashi (I Am Invincible) and Invader (Snitzel) building on the bright start to their stallion careers.
The Kacy Fogden-trained Midnight In Tokyo (Kobayashi) proved a class above her rivals in the two-year-old handicap over 1100 metres at Randwick, while the much anticipated debut for Nishikado (Invader) didn’t disappoint at Gawler.
Midnight In Tokyo had shown early promise for Kobayashi, a Listed winner from seven starts who now has two winners from 16 first-crop runners, when she won at the Sunshine Coast on debut and backed up by splitting Nettuno (I Am Invincible) and subsequent JJ Atkins Plate (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Sheeza Belter (Gold Standard) in the Ken Memorial Classic (Gr 3, 1200m) in May. She put a disappointing last-start sixth behind her to win yesterday, ruthlessly exploiting a gap that appeared after being held up in the straight, to score by a cosy half-length at the line.
“It’s an incredibly good day. For both of the stallions to sire metropolitan winners on the same day is very exciting for the farm,” Aquis’s Jonathan Davies told ANZ Bloodstock News, the director of sales also ruing a close-up second for another young sire, Jukebox (Snitzel), in the two-year-old race at Caulfield yesterday.
“Kacy has had a good opinion of this filly across the whole of her two-year-old career and Kacy is definitely a good judge. She’s a filly with a lot of promise, hopefully she’ll get a black-type win over the next few months.”
The Richard and Chantelle Jolly-trained Nishikado won a trial by seven and three-quarter lengths at Murray Bridge in June and followed up with another trial success two weeks later ahead of the gelding’s debut yesterday.
“We’ve been waiting and watching for [Nishikado] to step out since he won that trial. We’re pleased to see a win and Invader is a stallion that personally I have great faith in,” Davies said of the Group 1 winner, whose second-crop yearlings sold to $320,000 this year.
“His second-crop of foals at the yearling sales were, as a bunch, I thought a lot earlier and more precocious than his first. This coming season, I’m expecting an even better season for him next year.”
Davies believes both Invader and Kobayashi will benefit from numbers on their side, the latter having 21 more foals on the ground than his first crop of 53, a fact which prompted a price rise to $8,800 (inc GST) this season. Invader has covered over 100 mares in each of his four seasons at stud.
“It’s a credit to him after his first foals got on the ground. He came from humble beginnings but he had a lot of ability himself. [Kobayashi] has very much justified the rise in price. Just knowing what we have and what’s out there, he’s going very well,” Davies said.
Invader, who will stand for a fee of $22,000 (inc GST) this year, has eight winners from 24 starters, including the Inglis 2YO Challenge (1100m) winner Vegas Raider.
“We’re very happy with how Invader is going. Trainers love them and if they love them it’s always a good sign that they’re doing the right things and enjoy their work.”
Lipp and Hahn land double to earn partnership first stakes wins
Rex Lipp and Nick Hahn toasted a first stakes winner in partnership when Simply Fly (Spirit Of Boom) soared to victory in the Chief De Beers (Listed, 1110m) at Doomben yesterday, with their tally quickly doubling a race later when Tycoon Evie (Written Tycoon) landed the Pam O’Neill Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m).
Toowoomba-based Lipp is no stranger to big-race success, the veteran trainer having won the 2014 Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) with Tinto (Red Dazzler) and BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) back in 2004 with Star Shiraz (Sequalo). But for Hahn, who joined the partnership at the beginning of this season, it marked the first stakes and Group winner of his career.
“It’s a great thrill,” Hahn said, before reflecting on the win of Tycoon Evie. “She means a lot to us, this mare. She gave us the first win in partnership and my first winner when I started working for Rex, it’s great to win today.”
The well-related Tycoon Evie, who won by a neck ahead of the Chris Waller-trained duo Zing (Zoustar) and She’s The Gift (Power), also delivered a significant milestone for her sire, with Written Tycoon earning a 50th individual stakes winner courtesy of her success in the delayed Pam O’Neill Stakes.
“It was a nice win. It’s a race we have been planning for ever since it was transferred to this day. She’s come up trumps,” Lipp said.
“She hasn’t had a run for a while going from 1200 metres to 1600 metres. It’s a big jump, but I was never worried about that at all.
“I think she’ll go for a spell. I don’t know what we’ll do, but she won’t be racing for a while here.”
A homebred for Jeff Cullen’s Wicklow Lodge, Tycoon Evie is a sister to Winning Rupert, a Group 3 scorer and winner of five from six career starts, before retiring for a career at stud. She is the seventh foal and fifth winner out of five-time winning mare Winaura (Show A Heart).
Simply Fly headlined a memorable day for his sire Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo), who had five winners across the country yesterday.
His length-and-a-half victory over Centrefire (Shooting To Win) in the Chief De Beers was added to by Chatty Lady’s win at Doomben, as well as winners at Roma, Rockhampton and Cowra.
Lipp credited jockey Tegan Harrison for her positive ride.
“It’s about time somebody got him out of the barriers and Tegan’s done it today,” Lipp said.
“She rode him beautifully. I said to her, ‘if he wants to over-race, let him roll a little bit’. She did everything right and I said whatever you do, don’t go looking for runs.
“Another thing I said was, ‘ride him ugly’.
“He’s a horse you have to get to the outside eventually and he can roll off a nice 600 metres, especially the last 400.”
Wearing the Eureka Stud colours, Simply Fly is another well-related horse for the training partnership. He is the first stakes winner from six runners out of Queensland Guineas (Gr 2, 1600m) winner Express Air (Piccolo), herself a half-sister to the dam of this season’s Gold Coast Guineas (Gr 3, 1200m) winner Prince Of Boom (Spirit Of Boom).
With seven individual stakes winners to his name, including Group 1 winner Jonker, it’s been a career-best season for Eureka’s flagbearer, who has sired 126 individual winners this campaign from 264 runners. He will stand for a fee of $33,000 (inc GST) this spring.