Leneva Park pitches to keep Royal Meeting
Connections mull the future of the sire of Blue Diamond contender Hayasugi
Emerging Victorian sire Royal Meeting (Invincible Spirit) could be acquired by rival studs but Leneva Park, his home for the past three seasons, is making a strong case to retain the European Group 1 winner on its select stallion roster for 2024.
With Blue Diamond Preview (F) (Gr 3, 1000m) and Prelude (F) (Gr 2, 1100m) winner Hayasugi flying the flag for the former Godolphin-owned racehorse, interest in the stallion is heating up and Aquis Farm and partners are exploring their options after his explosive start to stud.
Aquis Farm’s Jonathan Davies pointedly suggested in yesterday’s ANZ Bloodstock News that no decision had been made as to where Royal Meeting would stand later this year.
The Hong Kong-owned Aquis Farm still retains standing rights on the 2018 Criterium International (Gr 1, 1400m) winner with Leneva’s three-year deal expiring at the end of the last breeding season.
Leneva Park took over the Darren Thomas and Mark Pilkington-owned Seymour Park after Aquis Farm relinquished its lease of the property near Darley’s Northwood Park in early 2021 as the realities of running three stallion rosters across Victoria, NSW and Queensland during the Covid pandemic led to significant consolidation.
General manager Mick Sharkie said that Leneva Park, which also has three-time Group 1 winner Fierce Impact (Deep Impact) on its roster, increased the number of mares Royal Meeting covered in his second season, up from 89 in year one, to 106 in his second season.
Racing just seven times, including twice during the 2019 Melbourne spring carnival for Godolphin trainer Saeed Bin Suroor, Royal Meeting served 105 mares in his third season and 66 last year at an unchanged fee of $11,000 (inc GST).
Aquis partnered with prominent breeders Sheikh Khalifa Al Maktoum, Seymour Bloodstock, Yarran Thoroughbreds and Erinvale Thoroughbreds in mid-2020 to buy Royal Meeting from Godolphin.
While the Royal Meeting syndicate is considering its options, it is believed that, as yet, no offers have been forthcoming outside what Leneva has put forward. The horse remains on agistment at Seymour Park.
Sharkie said negotiations between Leneva Park and Aquis Farm were ongoing.
“Obviously last season, year four, the breeders waited for his runners and he’s had Hayasugi and some promising triallers come out already,” Sharkie told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“I think the market believes in the horse and there’s a good group of shareholders behind him.
“He is a Group 1-winning two-year-old, albeit late in the European season, and he’s a very good looking horse and we know how well that [Invincible Spirit] blood works in Australia, so that gave us confidence.
“Then, when he started to produce good looking foals, people playing in that market were happy to send mares back to him.
“We’ve already had inquiries from Victorian breeders about him for this year.”
A son of South African Grade 1-winning mare and champion two-year-old Rock Opera (Lecture) and a half-brother to six-time stakes winner Heavy Metal (Exceed And Excel), Royal Meeting stamped himself as a high-class colt with a victory in France’s Group 1 two-year-old sprint at just his second start to complete a perfect two-start juvenile season.
His Clinton McDonald-trained first-crop daughter Hayasugi, who finished runner-up in the $500,000 Inglis Banner (RL, 1000m) on debut last October, drew barrier 11 yesterday in the capacity field of 16 plus two emergencies for the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m). Jamie Kah retains the ride.
From just six runners, Royal Meeting is also the sire of Sydney metropolitan-placed War Council who has gone up against leading two-year-olds Storm Boy (Justify) and Shangri La Express (Alabama Express) early in his career for trainers Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes.
While negotiations remain ongoing to secure Royal Meeting’s standing rights, Sharkie indicated that those talks had no influence on the future of Fierce Impact.
Aquis Farm, meanwhile, retains a stallion base at Canungra on the Gold Coast hinterland – a roster that includes Group 1-winning sprinter Jonker (Spirit Of Boom), Lean Mean Machine (Zoustar), Sunshine In Paris’ sire Invader (Snitzel) and Hong Kong’s Group 1-winning sprinter Stronger (Not A Single Doubt) – it has been selling down or selling out of its sires over the past 12 months as part of its bloodstock trading approach.
However, it is understood that Aquis Farm could have at least one new first season sire to add to its Queensland roster later this year, a sign that stallions remain a major component of its business model.
Yulong purchased exciting first crop two-year-old sire Pierata (Pierro), who has colt Coleman set to run favourite in Saturday’s Blue Diamond Stakes, while Brave Smash (Tosen Phantom) relocated to Yarraman Park in the Hunter Valley ahead of the 2023 season.
First crop Brave Smash three-year-olds Brave Mead and the Group 1 runner-up Kimochi have both won Group races first-up this preparation to push the case for the promising sire who spent his first season at Aquis’ leased Hunter Valley stud farm at Emirates Park before spending three seasons in Queensland.
Pierata also began his stud career in NSW before being transferred to the Sunshine State for two seasons prior to his sale to Yulong’s Zhang Yuesheng last year.
Kitchwin Hills also acquired Dubious (Not A Single Doubt) from Aquis Farm late last autumn and he covered 88 mares in his first season in the Hunter Valley.
Meanwhile, Divine Prophet (Choisir), brother to reigning New Zealand champion sire Proisir, and Santos (I Am Invincible), sire of Kiwi Group 1 winner Ulanova, began their careers in the breeding shed at Aquis Farm, but were relocated to Brent Gillovic’s Highview Stud in New Zealand last year.
Aquis’ racing division Tony Fung Investments also has equity in Kia Ora Stud’s Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Farnan (Not A Single Doubt) and Widden Stud’s sprinter Anders (Not A Single Doubt).
As for the first crop yearlings by three-time Melbourne Group 1-winning miler Fierce Impact, which have sold up to $170,000 off a $16,500 (inc GST) service fee so far this year, Sharkie said: “So far, everything that has gone to a yearling sale in Australia and New Zealand has sold, so that’s great.
“That means people who are selling those horses are realistic and meeting the market and that there’s people there who want to buy them.
“There’s going to be more of them at Premier and more of them in Adelaide.”
Leneva Park also operates a large-scale pre-training and breaking-in business near Longwood. Its services are used by numerous large-scale Victorian trainers.