Aquis roster finalised: Jonker and Stronger headline seven stallions

8 min read
Aquis Farm has released its final stallion roster for the upcoming spring and, in addition to new sire Stronger, it features the Manikato-winning Jonker at the head of affairs at an unchanged fee of $16,500 (inc GST).

Cover image courtesy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club

The Canungra-based Aquis Farm has released its stallion roster for the 2023 spring, which emerges at the end of several weeks of announcements regarding stallion movements.

Through April, the farm revealed that Pierata was a high-profile relocation to Yulong, while both Divine Prophet and Santos were on their way to Highview Stud in New Zealand. Likewise, Brave Smash (Jpn) departed to stand at Yarraman Park, and Dubious was announced for Kitchwin Hills.

Jonker will stand for $16,500 (inc GST) in 2023 | Standing at Aquis

These, and other relocations, have condensed the Aquis stallion roster from 17 sires last year to just seven this year, and, at $16,500 (inc GST), the 7-year-old Jonker sits atop things. Heading into his second season, Jonker’s fee is unchanged from last spring when he covered 115 mares.

“With his sire, Spirit Of Boom, getting a well-deserved fee increase, Jonker still represents terrific value, as he was in his first season as a proper weight-for-age, Group 1-winning sprinter by a proven stallion,” said Jonathan Davies, Aquis’ director of sales. “He’s the only direct descendant of Eight Carat at stud on the eastern seaboard, so he offers such a great opportunity for breeders to duplicate that great bloodline through Eight Carat and Cotehele House.”

“With his sire, Spirit Of Boom, getting a well-deserved fee increase, Jonker still represents terrific value, as he was in his first season as a proper weight-for-age, Group 1-winning sprinter by a proven stallion.” - Jonathan Davies

Eight Carat (GB) (Pieces Of Eight {Ire}) and her daughter Cotehele House (GB) (My Swanee {GB}) are fifth and fourth dams respectively in Jonker’s pedigree. It comes up a lot when Davies is planning matings for Aquis clients.

“I was just looking it up this morning, actually,” he said. “Duplicating Cotehele House in pedigrees is running at 20 per cent stakes horses to runners, which is incredible.”

Jonker is still fresh off the blocks at Aquis. His first foals will arrive at the end of the winter off a healthy first book of 115.

Jonathan Davies | Image courtesy of Aquis

“He made the most of his opportunities last spring with great fertility,” Davies said. “He’s been well-supported by lifetime breeding-right holders and shareholders, which include the original ownership group that raced him. They’ve been great supporters of his and they’ll continue to be, which is a great help to any stallion.

“We hope his first foals will look like him, which they should… strong, neat, short-coupled, powerful, and that great, deeply rich colour that traces back to Eight Carat.”

Lean Mean Machine drops slightly

Seven-year-old Jonker leads the Aquis roster at $16,500, while the new stallion Stronger, a son of Not A Single Doubt who was announced for the farm last week, will debut at $13,750 (inc GST).

Stronger arrived at Canungra on Monday looking magnificent, according to Davies, and they’re expecting a show of support from both local and interstate breeders in this Group 3-winning, Hong Kong-performed sprinter.

Next in line on the Aquis lineup is the proven Lean Mean Machine, a son of Zoustar and dual Group 2 winner. Rising eight years old, this stallion is heading into his fifth season at stud at a reduced fee of $13,200 (inc GST), down from his 2022 fee of $17,600 (inc GST).

“We always try to price our stallions competitively, and we like to think that we’re one of the best-value studs going around for breeders to get returns on because that’s what we want to see,” Davies said. “Lean Mean Machine is priced accordingly this year. He’s a great opportunity for breeders to access a high-class son of Zoustar, and he’s the only dual Group-winning son of Zoustar at stud in Australia.

“He throws a lovely sales type. They’re athletic with incredible movement, and he’s already been represented with a metropolitan winner from just a few runners.”

“Lean Mean Machine is priced accordingly this year. He’s a great opportunity for breeders to access a high-class son of Zoustar, and he’s the only dual Group-winning son of Zoustar at stud in Australia.” - Jonathan Davies

Lean Mean Machine is among Australia’s first-season sires right now. He’s had just three runners to the track, headed by the juvenile filly Freeman, who won over 1110 metres on debut this season.

At the yearling point, the stallion’s top-priced youngster was a 2022 colt that sold for $380,000, a more than 20-fold return on service fee, while this year his sale average (across 18 lots sold) has been a tick under $45,000.

“We expect his 2-year-olds will really start to hit their straps over the coming months,” Davies said. “There’s a few that have come on really nicely through trials recently, and that Zoustar-line of stallion screams 3-year-olds, which wasn’t unlike Zoustar himself when his first crop turned three, of which Lean Mean Machine was a part.”

Lean Mean Machine will stand for a reduced fee of $13,200 (inc GST) in 2023 | Standing at Aquis

Competitive earners round out the roster

Filling out the rest of the Aquis lineup are Invader at $11,000 (inc GST) and the trio of Glenfiddich, Kobayashi and The Mission, each of these latter three at $8800 (inc GST).

Invader stood last spring at $22,000 (inc GST), meaning his fee has been sliced in half, while The Mission has also slid slightly from last year’s fee of $11,000 (inc GST).

“Invader has been the first second-season sire to produce a Group 1 winner through the deeds of Sunshine In Paris,” Davies said. “When breeders hunt around this season for value, Invader standing at $10,000 plus GST will pick himself.

“He throws a great sales type and they’re really hitting their straps now. He’s got good books coming through and I personally believe it’s all in front of him at the moment.”

“He (Invader) throws a great sales type and they’re really hitting their straps now. He’s got good books coming through and I personally believe it’s all in front of him at the moment.” - Jonathan Davies

Invader is leaping into his sixth season at stud. Until last year, he had covered sizeable books of up to 150. That waned when he covered just 25 last spring, but Aquis is confident that what is coming through will stand to the horse very well.

Invader has sired 24 winners to date, including Sunshine In Paris who won the G1 Surround S. at Randwick in the autumn for Annabel Neasham.

At $8800, the trio of Glenfiddich, Kobayashi and The Mission whip in the Aquis roster. Each has sizeable credentials to add to a competitive price bracket of the stallion market, in particular Glenfiddich, who not only brings the Fastnet Rock sireline to Aquis, but who has plenty of promise with his first foals arriving this spring.

Gallery: Aquis' stallions for 2023

“He’s a horse that is well-suited to the Queensland market,” Davies said. “He’s let down into a magnificent stallion. He’s very masculine and handsome, and he’s got a lot of class. He was a sharp-enough 2-year-old, being Group 1-placed in the Champagne, and he went on to great success as a 3-year-old, albeit we never saw the best of him.”

Glenfiddich was a $200,000 yearling in 2019 when offered by Edinburgh Park, plucked from the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale by the keen eye of bloodstock agent Peter Ford (FBAA) and the horse's first trainer, Robbie Griffiths. Glenfiddich was a one-time Cox Plate favourite, was third in the G2 Stutt S. and second to Hanseatic in the Listed Blue Diamond Preview in the boys’ division.

“He’s got some really nice mares in foal to him in the Edinburgh Park Dispersal coming up at Magic Millions, so we’re excited to see how they’ll be greeted in the market,” Davies said.

“He’s (Glenfiddich) got some really nice mares in foal to him in the Edinburgh Park Dispersal coming up at Magic Millions, so we’re excited to see how they’ll be greeted in the market.” - Jonathan Davies

Kobayashi and The Mission, meanwhile, are heading into their sixth seasons. Both have had momentum lately, with Kobayashi siring the first two home in the QTIS Jewel race for 2-year-olds in March. This son of I Am Invincible has just two crops of racing age and he’s sired 17 winners from 41 starters.

The Mission has very similar numbers, plus the smart 3-year-old Yellow Brick to his name. Yellow Brick was second in the R. Listed Magic Millions 3YO Guineas in January, and he will this weekend line up in the G3 Gold Coast Guineas ahead of a possible tilt at the G1 Stradbroke H.

“Yellow Brick has been a star galloper for The Mission, and Kobayashi has had a great season with his 2-year-olds,” Davies said. “Both stallions are batting way above their averages, and their average earnings index is incredibly competitive, superseding most of their counterparts on the second-season sire table.”

The Mission is currently fourth on the Australian Second Season Sires' table by earnings, behind only Russian Revolution, Hellbent and Almanzor (Fr), while Kobayashi is also inside the top 10.

JonkerSpirit Of Boom$16,500$16,500115
StrongerNot A Single Doubt$13,750
Lean Mean MachineZoustar$13,200$17,600108
InvaderSnitzel$11,000$22,00025
GlenfiddichFastnet Rock$8,800$8,80091
KobayashiI Am Invincible$8,800$8,80012
The MissionChoisir$8,800$11,00038

Table: Aquis Farm's stallion roster in 2023, *all prices inclusive of GST

Aquis Farms
2023 Breeding Season
Stallion Fees
Jonker
Stronger
Lean Mean Machine
Invader
The Mission
Kobayashi
Glenfiddich