From Breednet: Teodore Nugent believes there is plenty of upside to Bella Babe after guiding the daughter of Invader to a three and a quarter length win over 1100m at her career debut at Werribee on Monday.
From Racing & Sports: Group 1 winning sprinter Jonker (Spirit Of Boom) has retired from racing and will stand at Aquis Farm in Queensland this year for a fee of $16,500 (inc GST).
From Breednet: Exceptional Group I winning sprinter Jonker has retired and will stand at Aquis Farm. He is the first son of Queensland’s champion sire Spirit of Boom to retire to stud.
Exceptional Gr.1 sprinter Jonker has retired and will stand at Aquis Farm. He is the first son of Queensland’s champion sire Spirit of Boom to retire to stud.
“Jonker has been on our “hit list” for quite some time and we are absolutely thrilled to stand him. Jonker has every attribute we want in a stallion prospect, conformation, 2YO ability, speed, soundness, temperament and performance at an elite level,” said Aquis Director of Sales, Jonathan Davies.
“Having met the team from Aquis Farm and perusing the facilities, we decided it was time for Jonker to go to a deserving home. He has provided us with some great times that will be missed but his lovely nature will ensure he enjoys his next stage in life which we can all enjoy being part of,” said Doug Crane, Managing Owner.
Jonker has a similar racing profile to his sire Spirit of Boom in having been a brilliant stakes-winning juvenile that trained on as an older horse to achieve Group 1 success.
Jonker joined the stable of champion trainer Tony Gollan in 2020 and showed his potential immediately when breaking the track record at Doomben for 1200m when winning the Listed BRC Keith Noud Quality at his first run for his new trainer.
He led all the way from a wide gate and won by four and a half lengths stopping the clock at a blistering 1:07.83, bettering the previous record held by the legendary sprinter Takeover Target.
He then won the $1 million Magic Millions Snippets Stakes (1200m) in January and placed in elite Gr.1 company at his next two starts finishing third to Eduardo in the Gr.1 ATC The Galaxy (1100m) and second to Vega One in the Gr.1 BRC Kingsford -Smith Cup (1200m).
Those performances announced Jonker as a sprinter of the highest calibre and his next target was the time-honoured Gr.1 MVRC Manikato Stakes (1200m) at WFA at Moonee Valley in the spring.
“Jonker was simply brilliant in the Manikato, it was a blistering display of sustained speed and he showed enormous heart to score a career defining victory.”
The earner of over $2 million in prizemoney, Jonker retires with five wins and eight placings from 30 starts with six of those placings coming in elite Group races behind the likes of Everest hero Classique Legend and Gr.1 winner I Am Excited.
“He really fills the eye and is loaded with quality” enthused Davies.
“He’s 15.3 ½ hands, he’s strong with massive hip and shoulder and incredible balance.
“He’s a great mover and our experience would be that most stallions produce what they are. If he does that, he’s going to produce really attractive foals that will certainly make an impact on racetrack”
Jonker also ticks the box of pedigree tracing in tail female line to revered blue hen Eight Carat (GB) via her influential daughter Cotehele House (GB). The family has delivered of Gr.1 producing stallions such as Commands, Danewin, Deep Field, Shooting to Win, Don Eduardo, Viking Ruler, Viscount, Kaapstad, Octagonal and Colombia.
Jonker will stand at a fee of $16,500 incl GST and is now at the farm at Canungra and is available for inspection.
“His sire line is one of Australia’s elite sources of 2YO speed and Jonker is from a female family that works with a wide variety of pedigree’s, so we are very excited by what he will bring to our stallion roster and to breeders from across Australia,” Davies concluded.
Please contact Jonathan Davies on 0423 033 858 or the team at Aquis Farm to schedule a private viewing of Jonker.