European star Aclaim set to shuttle to Aquis after a good year for the farm's first-crop sires

9 min read
Group 1-producing sire Aclaim (Ire) will shuttle to Aquis Farm in 2022 and he will stand his first season for a fee of $24,200 (inc GST).

Cover image, Cachet (Ire) after winning the G1 1000 Guineas, courtesy of The National Stud

Trained by Martyn Meade on behalf of Dermot Farrington and Queensland-based farm Canning Downs, Aclaim won seven of his 15 starts, making a successful debut in a 1000-metre contest in a Kempton maiden in the December of his 2-year-old season.

A winner of four contests in his Classic year, the entire ended his 3-year-old campaign with triumph in the G2 Challenge S. at Newmarket.

Kept in training as a 4-year-old, Aclaim won his final two outings, taking out the G2 Park S. on his penultimate start, before signing off his career with a victory in the G1 Prix de la Foret in Deauville, a performance that earned him a career-high official (BHA) rating of 116.

His accomplishments on the track earned him a place on the roster of the National Stud in Newmarket and the 29 victors he sired in his first year saw him crowned Champion First Season Sire by winners in Britain in 2021.

Aclaim (Ire) | Standing at Aquis Farm

'Massive coup'

This season his exploits as a sire have been advertised chiefly by his daughter Cachet (Ire) who landed the G1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, a victory she followed up with a close second in the French equivalent a few weeks later.

He also has Listed winner Royal Aclaim (Ire) among his progeny, as well as stakes performers Jacinda (GB), Beautiful Black (GB), Chelsea Gardens (GB) and Woman of Ciprea (GB).

Cachet (Ire) winning the G1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in May | Image courtesy of The National Stud

With 19 winners under this belt this season, Aclaim is sitting third behind fellow shuttler Churchill (Ire) and Cotai Glory (GB) in the race to be crowned Britain's Champion Second Season Sire by number of winners, while he is second behind the Coolmore resident by earnings.

“This is a massive coup for Aquis and the Australian breeding industry,” said Aquis Farm’s Director of Sales, Jonathan Davies. “Aclaim is a proven Group 1 sire with massive upside. He is on a sharp upward trajectory to be one of the leading stallions in Britain.

“He’s already the sire of a proper Group 1 Classic winner, Cachet and one of the most exciting speed horses in Europe, the unbeaten Royal Aclaim. With large numbers of progeny still to run, it's anyone’s guess what he will have achieved when the first of Aclaim’s Australian-bred progeny hit the sales.”

Aclaim’s Australian book of mares will be limited to 100 and they will include multiple Group 1 winner Loving Gaby (I Am Invincible) and Tallow (Street Cry {Ire}) - the dam of 2020 G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Farnan.

“Aclaim already has 55 mares committed to him – a large number of which include stakes winners or stakes-producing mares in foal to the likes of I Am Invincible, Snitzel and Zoustar,” Davies said. “Both Loving Gaby and Tallow arrived on the farm last week and will be covered by Aclaim.”

Well-received

Aquis will introduce the shuttler onto their roster this spring alongside fellow newbies Glenfiddich and Jonker. The Group 2 winner and Group 1 performer Glenfiddich will stand his first season for a fee of $8800 (inc GST), while Group 1 winner Jonker will be introduced at $16,500 (inc GST).

Jonker - the first son of Spirit Of Boom to retire to stud - enjoyed a brilliant career on the track, notching five wins, including a Group 1 triumph in the G1 Manikato S., and eight minor placings from 30 starts.

Meanwhile, Glenfiddich - a son of former Champion Sire Fastnet Rock - raced 12 times, snaring two wins, including the G2 Stutt S., and four minor placings - headed by two at elite level.

Gallery: The two stallions to join Aclaim (Ire) as freshmen sires at Aquis Farm for the upcoming breeding season

Davies told TDN AusNZ the new stallions had been well-received by breeders and he is looking forward to seeing them cover their first book of mares this spring.

“They bring different pedigrees and they are not in direct competition with each other and picking up different kinds of mares for different clients,” said Davies.

“Obviously, Jonker is a son of Spirit Of Boom who has taken all before him and I believe he is fully booked for this season. He is such a good-looking horse with a great race record and very similar to his old man, but being a descendant of Eight Carat really opens up his options.

"It is such fun doing matings for clients with him and finding new nicks and new things about his pedigree and he has been really exciting for us. He has been a very popular horse and if people come to the stud to do a parade to see another horse, quite often Jonker will often steal the show.”

"He has been a very popular horse and if people come to the stud to do a parade to see another horse, quite often Jonker will often steal the show.” - Jonathan Davies

Meanwhile, Davies believes the $8800 Glenfiddich will stand for in his first season represents good value.

“Glenfiddich just represents terrific value and it is an old cliche that we never got to see the best of him, but that is certainly true about him,” he said. “Peter Moody had such a high opinion of the horse and it is a shame we never got to see him reach the heights we all knew that he could, but are confident he will make an impact in the stallion barn and he is picking up similar mares as The Mission did in his first year at stud, interestingly enough.”

Annus mirabilis

With just 17 days remaining of the 2021/22 season, Davies reflected on a good 12 months for the farm’s first-season sires. This term, Aquis introduced five new stallions, including The Mission, who with nine scorers to his name is sitting second behind Newgate Farm’s Russian Revolution by number winners in the race to be crowned Australia's Champion First Season Sire by winners.

“It’s been a great season for the first-season stallions. We launched five this season and they’re all doing great jobs,” said Davies.

The Mission has only had 18 starters this season, which is well below many other stallions inside the top 10, and with nine of those winners means the son of Choisir is firing at a strike rate of 50 per cent winners to runners and Davies explained The Mission’s start to stud had exceeded their expectations.

The Mission | Standing at Aquis Farm

“The Mission has been a bit of a surprise to be honest and he has exceeded our expectations, by the amount of winners he has had,” he said. “They have a great will to win and trainers seem to have a lot of time for the progeny and people who have bred to him before are coming back to use him again, which is obviously a good sign.”

The Mission covered 104 mares in his first season at a fee of $13,200 (inc GST), leaving a crop of 64 foals on the ground and he will stand the upcoming breeding season for an increased fee of $11,000 (inc GST), having stood in 2021 for $8800 (inc GST).

“They seem to be likeable, tough horses,” said Davies. “He will serve a nice book of mares again and he will very much be supported by a similar group of breeders that have been on him from day one, with a few new people jumping on board, off the back of his successful first season at stud.

“Choisir was a great stallion himself, but he was better known for getting 3-year-olds and older horses. We have seen with a stallion like Divine Prophet that his progeny have got better with age and even his 2-year-olds were better than his first crop, so we are hoping that The Mission can continue in a similar vein to him.”

A new theory

The Mission is joined inside the top 10 first-season sires this season by his barnmate Invader, who has been represented by eight first-crop winners from 24 starters and he is currently sitting at number five in the race to be crowned Australia’s Champion First Season Sire by winners.

The 2017 G1 Sires' Produce S. winner, Invader covered 156 mares in his inaugural season at stud and Davies explained that the stallion’s pint-sized physique meant he covered bigger mares in his first season, but having inspected his second crop of yearlings, the farm have learned the stallion produces more precocious commercial offspring when mated to more refined mares.

Invader | Standing at Aquis Farm

“We’ve come up with a working theory with Invader. He is a neat, sharp-looking stallion himself, but he is not overly big and in his first season at stud he got a lot of big mares sent to him. His first crop of runners included horses that went to the sales and they were very nice horses but they did look like they needed a bit of time,” Davies explained.

“We found, going round the yearlings this season, that his second crop looked a lot more precocious and we are really excited by that. The more refined mares seemed to have suited him better than those bigger mares he got in his first crop, but sometimes with a new stallion you have to go with the flow and work out what works best.

“He has some really nice 2-year-olds that are going to be better next year with age and some rising 2-year-olds that should make an impact on the track. He’s a horse that I think could have a big 12 months.”

Jonathan Davies | Image courtesy of Aquis

The son of Snitzel not only enjoyed some good results on the track this year, he was also represented by some memorable moments in the sales ring, headlined by a Willow Park Stud-consigned colt who was purchased for $550,000 by Ciaron Maher Bloodstock at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, while Annabel Neasham paid $500,000 for another of his sons at the same sale.

“Some of his results in the sales ring this year were brilliant and we were really encouraged by the fact that trainers who had 2-year-olds by him in their stables that hadn’t stepped out on a racecourse yet were buying them again at the sales and that gives us a lot of confidence that trainers are happy with the progeny,” said Davies.

Spieth (NZ) is sitting at seventh in the top 10 freshman sires, with the son of Thorn Park responsible for six winners this season, while his barnmates Jukebox and Kobayashi, have sired four and two winners apiece in their first season with runners.

Aquis Farm
Aclaim
Invader
The Mission
Spieth
Jonathan Davies