From TDN: The G3 Darley Ottawa S. was a celebratory result for Aquis Farm on Oaks Day, giving its Caulfield Guineas-winning stallion Divine Prophet his very first stakes winner.
The G3 Darley Ottawa S. was the first of the features on VRC Oaks Day, a sprint over 1000 metres for the juvenile fillies. It proved a busy field with 18 horses going to post, and the result went the way of See You In Heaven, who provided her sire, Aquis Farm’s Divine Prophet, with his very first stakes winner.
From TDN: The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained filly Coolangatta (Written Tycoon) provided one of the standout performances of the nine 2-year-old trials staged at Randwick on Monday, which also witnessed strong showings from the progeny of first-season stallions Merchant Navy and Spieth (NZ).
The progeny of Aquis’ Spieth won two of the trials of the morning, with Kacy Fogden stablemates Wild Botanica and Victory Moments both successful in slick times.
From TDN: Doomben played host to five 2-year-old trials on Tuesday morning, with Eagle Farm trainer Les Ross doing particularly well across three of them. Two of these included a pair of winners from the first crop of the Aquis Farm stallion, The Mission.
Mishani Warfare (The Mission), Mishani Embrace (The Mission) and Spanish Angels (Sidestep) were all victorious for the trainer, while Heroic Son (Heroic Valour) and Merrily (Astern) whipped in the remaining two results.
From TDN: Aquis freshman sire The Mission was well-represented by five juveniles at the Deagon trials on Tuesday.
The 2017 G1 Champagne S. victor staked claim to a winner, two seconds, a third and a fourth across two 650-metre, 2-year-old trials.
From TDN: The first progeny of Aquis stallion Spieth (NZ) have made an impact at Queensland’s first 2-year-old trial of the season, with the Kacy Fogden-trained pair Victory Moments and Wild Botanica running the quinella in the 900-metre hitout at the Gold Coast on Monday.
Fogden, who is based at Conungra but also has stables at the Gold Coast, presented four of the five starters in the trial, with three of them by Spieth, the son of Thorn Park who is in his fourth season at Aquis.
From TDN: In this two-part feature, TDN AusNZ catches up with a handful of Australia and New Zealand’s highly skilled breakers and pre-trainers as they put next season’s 2-year-olds through their early paces. What do they think of the next generation of emerging juvenile talent, and which of the upcoming first-season sires have made the best impression with their first-crop progeny?
Today’s first instalment features Greg Bennett, Hinnerk Hueppe, Sam Beatson and Eion Kemp.
Greg Bennett (Fenwick Farm)
An immensely respected figure on the Australian thoroughbred landscape, Bennett has more than 40 years’ experience under his belt and has broken in the likes of the immortal Makybe Diva (GB) (Desert King {Ire}), elite racehorse and sire Written Tycoon, and other Group 1 winners such as Typhoon Tracy (Red Ransom {USA}), All Silent (Belong To Me {USA}), Ha Ha (Danehill {USA}) and Red Tracer (Dane Shadow).
From TDN: Aquis Farm has added a 16th stallion to its Queensland roster for 2021, with Lean Mean Machine to relocate from Victoria, where he has stood his first two seasons.
The Group 2-winning son of Zoustar served books of 147 and 73 in his first two seasons, with 89 foals from his first crop.
He joins a powerful Aquis roster from its Queensland base, which includes Pierata and Invader, who were among those stallions to move north from New South Wales in 2021.
From TDN: Aquis Farm is set to ramp up its footprint on the Queensland breeding scene, with 15 stallions set to feature on the 2021 roster for its Canungra base, after the decision to bring its New South Wales contingent, headed by Pierata, to the Sunshine State.
The consolidation of Aquis’ three-state operation into a single base for 2021 has seen it exit the New South Wales and Victorian market and opt to put the focus of all its stallions in the state where the business started in 2015, and where it first stood stallions five years ago.