Aquis to stand Needs Further in Victoria
Tasmania’s leading stallion Needs Further (Encosta De Lago), the sire of Group 1-winning mare Mystic Journey and five other stakes horses from limited numbers, will relocate to Victoria this year in a joint arrangement between Aquis Farm and Armidale Stud.
The deal, initially on a year-to-year basis, was signed late yesterday after a number of overtures from mainland studs were made for the Armidale Stud sire, who started his career at a modest fee of just $3,300 (inc GST) in 2013.
Needs Further’s deeds as a stallion have been headlined by the Adam Trinder-trained Mystic Journey, but he is also the sire of the Group 3-successful Deroche and Listed winners Mystical Pursuit, Pateena Arena and Adelaide sprinter Bold Star who raced without luck in The Goodwood (Gr 1, 1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday.
He will stand for an unchanged service fee of $13,750 (inc GST) and joins Aquis Farm’s foundation Victorian stallion, the second season sire Lean Mean Machine (Zoustar), at the Seymour property this year.
Aquis Farm chief executive Tony Williams has a long-standing relationship with Armidale Stud’s Whishaw family and that played a pivotal role in getting the deal for Needs Further’s move interstate across the line.
“To be fair, from a Victorian perspective, he was a horse who would have been on the radar of a lot of studs and I don’t mind putting it this way: I’ve had a good relationship with the Whishaws for a long time, from my days at Magic Millions,” he told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“They’ve become friends and that relationship has certainly helped with Aquis securing the stallion and this business is all about relationships.
“From our perspective, he’s the perfect stallion for Aquis to have in Victoria. He’s sired Mystic Journey, who is an (Australian) Guineas winner and she won the inaugural All-Star Mile, so he can get a proper horse. He can get two-year-olds, he can get three-year-olds and a Classic horse.
“He’s by Encosta De Lago, who made his name in Victoria, and he has a lot of similarities to Encosta De Lago physically and he’s from a super stallions’ pedigree and he’s really doing the job.”
Armidale Stud manager David Whishaw said Needs Further deserved his opportunity on the mainland.
“We have had increasing interest from several mainland stud farms to stand Needs Further over the last two seasons,” Whishaw said.
“He’s arguably had the best start to a stud career that any Tasmanian-based stallion has had in the modern era and he really has earnt the right to access the bigger and better quality books of mares which Aquis and the Victorian market will no doubt offer.”
Williams said: “He’s done something that I think a good stallion does and that is, he’s versatile and he upgrades his mares.
“He is by Encosta from a Golden Slipper placegetter Crowned Glory and she is by Danehill who is probably the greatest stallion we’ve had stand in Australasia, so he’s got all that wonderful blood there and he’s a horse who can throw a bit of toughness into his stock.”
Williams, who joined Aquis Farm at the start of this year after a stint with Goffs in the UK, acknowledged the bittersweet nature of Armidale Stud committing to sending its premier stallion to Victoria.
“Make no mistake, the Whishaws and Armidale Stud in Tasmania are the leaders (in breeding) in the state,” he said.
“Needs Further is the leading stallion in that state and, yes, it would have been a gut-wrenching decision for David, Robyn and the family to have to make to let him come to Victoria.
“But in this season, with the uncertainty of the Covid virus, the best decision is to allow the horse to have the opportunity in Victoria.”
Last month, Woodside Park Stud and the shareholders of Written Tycoon (Iglesia) entered into a deal with Arrowfield Stud that saw the stallion relocate from Victoria to the Hunter Valley for at least this year.
The alliance was formed in a bid to also assist Woodside Park Stud in attracting new stallions to Victoria with the significant resources of Arrowfield, and Williams believes the Aquis-Armidale partnership could also be of a similar benefit to Tasmanian breeders in the future.
“I would like to think that this is a stepping-stone into a long-term relationship for us to work together. It really is,” he said.
“I have got a long-term relationship with the family and we will be doing our absolute best with Needs Further for them. I will call it a project and it is a team effort and they have some good partners in Needs Further, so they will all be working just as hard (to ensure he continues his success).”
A half-brother to Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) winner Hallowed Crown (Street Sense), the sire of this season’s Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Colette, and from the immediate family of Zabeel (Sir Tristram) and his half-brother Baryshnikov (Kenmare), the ATC Carbine Club Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m)-winning Needs Further went to stud in 2013, covering 70 mares.
His fee remained unchanged at the modest $3,300 until 2017 before it was increased to $5,500 and, two years later, it more than doubled to $13,750 on the back of his progeny’s performances in Tasmania and on the mainland.
As well as experiencing a fee hike, Needs Further last year also covered his largest book of mares to date at 103, up from 49 and 48 respectively in his previous two seasons.
Alpine Eagle (High Chaparral), whose first crop two-year-olds will race in 2020-21, remains as Armidale Stud’s resident stallion and Williams is confident that local breeders will support the Group 2 winner in Needs Further’s absence.
“Alpine Eagle’s stock have sold well and I think (Tasmanian breeders) will utilise him to the fullest in Tasmania and it allows Needs Further a wider opportunity in Victoria,” he said.
“Whilst it’s bittersweet for Armidale, it probably gives Alpine Eagle a greater opportunity not to be competing against Needs Further in Tasmania.”