Officiating First Draft Pick As Aquis Announces 2024 Fees

Officiating

Queensland’s leading stallion operation, Aquis Stallions, has revealed its roster for the 2024 season.

Aquis Stallions who have launched the careers of some of Australia’s most promising stallions PIERATA, BRAVE SMASH and ROYAL MEETING now announces its new stallion development opportunity in the three-time US Group winner, Officiating.

A complete outcross, deliberately selected by Aquis Stallions following a global headhunting mission to secure a stallion that will excel with the local Queensland broodmare population, with a particular focus on mares by Spirit of Boom, Better Than Ready and Spill The Beans amongst the wider pool of Danehill heavy Queensland mares.

Officiating is the first son of the North American super sire, Blame, to stand in Australia. An Eclipse Champion Racehorse, Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, and three-time Group 1 winner, Blame is an elite stallion who runs at 14% stakes horses to runners as both a sire and a broodmare sire.

Officiating was a racehorse for all seasons, excelling on fast and heavy surfaces with four of his five career victories at stakes level. Officiating would capture the Group 3 Cornhusker at his penultimate outing making it his third high class Group win before farewelling the track in the US$1million Group 2 Charles Town Classic, finishing a neck fourth behind Art Collector, the winner of the Group 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes. This is proper, fast, tough form on the world stage.

“We got our man!” Aquis Stallions Director of Sales, Jonathan Davies enthused. “In a deal we spent most of 2023 putting together in the USA, Officiating is perfect for our local broodmare population, that’s why he’s here and we’ve already seen a glimpse of that through this season’s Group 2 Todman Stakes winner Switzerland being by Snitzel out of a Blame mare”.

“For us, launching stallions and developing value for our stallion shareholders is what it’s about and like Brave Smash and Royal Meeting, Officiating is that tough, sound, outcross stallion that will work and we have no doubt in four to five years’ time he will be sought by all the big studs in the Hunter Valley and Victoria.

Officiating will stand his first season at Aquis Stallions at a fee of $12,500 inc GST.

Officiating is part of an 8-strong Aquis roster in 2024, which is headed by one of Australia’s leading 2-year-old sires Kobayashi.

Please contact our sales team at Aquis Stallions for more information or to arrange a private viewing of our new stallion Officiating or any of the 2024 stallions.

  • Jonathan Davies (Director of Sales) – 0423 033 858
  • Paul Knight (Business Development Manager) – 0410 683 469
  • Penelope Crowley (Nominations) – 0427 857 788

 

2024 Aquis Stallion Roster

 

Stallion Name 2024 Fee
(inc GST)
Kobayashi $15,000
Lean Mean Machine $13,200
Jonker $12,500
Officiating (USA) (NEW) $12,500
Stronger $9,900
Invader $8,800
Glenfiddich $5,500
The Mission $4,400

AQUIS STALLIONS ANNOUNCE STRONGER 2023 ROSTER

Aquis Stallions has today announced their 7-strong stallion line up for the coming spring.

Headlining the Stronger than ever team is the Group 1 winning sprinter, Jonker ($16,500 fee), who covered a superb book of mares for his first season in 2022. A son of the hugely popular Spirit of Boom, Jonker was the fastest male winner of the Gr.1 Manikato Stakes (faster than Redoute’s Choice, Rebel Dane, Sepoy etc..) and his brilliant speed also saw him smash Champion Sprinter, Takeover Target’s 1200m track record.

He’ll be joined in 2023 by son of Champion sire Not A Single Doubt, Stronger ($13,750 fee), a Group 1 winning speedster in Hong Kong and Group winner in Australia at 2.

Both Jonker and Stronger will be joined by the proven Group 1 stallion Invader and up-and-coming sires Kobayashi and The Mission both of whom have enjoyed an incredibly successful twelve months on the track. While Lean Mean Machine – who’s oldest progeny (two-year-olds) are impressing trainers around the country, and the charismatic, good-looking son of Fastnet Rock, Glenfiddich rounds out a strong rooster for 2023.

“We are incredibly excited for the season ahead, we are spearheaded by two good looking proper Group 1 sprinters, both by proven, colonial, speed stallions. We cannot wait for breeders to feast their eyes on Stronger and see Jonkers first foals galloping around paddocks across Australia,” Aquis Farm Director of Sales, Jonathan Davies enthused.

“Jonker covered the best book of mares a first season stallion has covered on this farm. Prudent breeders will of course note that and breeding to Jonker this season will prove an astute move. With the service fee increase to his sire Spirit of Boom, at his fee, Jonker is an attractive option for breeders looking to tap into the sire line,” added Davies.

Like Jonker, Fastnet Rock’s Gr.2 Bill Stutt winner (and Gr.1 Champagne Stakes runner up), Glenfiddich ($8,800 fee) was well received in his first year, while Lean Mean Machine ($13,200 fee) is off to a promising start with trainers predicting progeny will emulate their sire’s Group 2 winning form at 3.

Snitzel’s Group 1 winning 2YO, Invader ($11,000 fee), became the first of the current crop of Second Season Sires to produce a Group 1 winner with Sunshine In Paris winning the Surround Stakes and fellow 2YO stakes winner – the I Am Invincible sire, Kobayashi ($8,800 fee) – has a number of outstanding types coming through, including lightning quick 2YO, Mishani Royale, who has won her last four starts and led home the quinella for her sire in the $500,000 QTIS Jewel.

And the best value for money QTIS stallion, The Mission ($8,800 fee), boasts a higher average earnings index than leading Second Season Sires Russian Revolution and Hellbent. A Group 1 winning 2YO who was Champion Queensland First Season Sire in 2021/22 by winners and earnings and is again the state’s current leading Second Season Sire.

Please contact our sales team at Aquis Stallions for more information or to arrange a private viewing of our new stallion Stronger or any of the 2023 stallions.

  • Jonathan Davies (Director of Sales) – 0423 033 858
  • Paul Knight (Business Development Manager) – 0410 683 469
  • Penelope Crowley (Nominations) – 0427 857 788

 

2023 Aquis Stallion Roster

 

Stallion Name 2023 Fee (inc GST)
Jonker 16,500
Stronger (NEW) 13,750
Lean Mean Machine 13,200
Invader 11,000
Glenfiddich 8,800
Kobayashi 8,800
The Mission 8,800

 

GR.1 SPRINTER JONKER RETIRES TO AQUIS

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.