Needs Further to Stand at Aquis Victoria

Media Release - Wednesday May 20

It is with great anticipation that Encosta De Lago’s exciting son Needs Further, the sire of Classic-winning and inaugural All-Star Mile winner Mystic Journey, will stand the forthcoming breeding season at Aquis Seymour in association with Tasmania’s Armidale Stud.

Needs Further will stand at Aquis Victoria in 2020“We are very fortunate at Aquis to have the opportunity to work with the time honoured Armidale Stud and partners in standing Needs Further at our Victorian farm, he is exactly the stallion we needed on our roster,” stated Aquis CEO Tony (Tubba) Williams.

“Needs Further has quickly become the leading sire in Tasmania and from his second crop, sired the exciting filly Mystic Journey who took all before her in winning the Gr.1 VRC Australian Guineas and inaugural $5m All-Star Mile. With Needs Further being a son of Encosta De Lago, it feels like we are bringing Encosta De Lago’s legacy back home to Victoria.”

From the immediate family of multiple Australian and New Zealand Champion Sire Zabeel and his half-brother Baryshnikov, both winners of the Gr.1 VRC Australian Guineas, Needs Further is a half-brother to Gr.1 ATC Golden Rose Stakes and Gr.1 ATC Randwick Guineas winner Hallowed Crown, sire of this season’s dominant Gr.1 ATC Australian Oaks winner Colette.

The son of multiple Champion sire Encosta De Lago, whose sire line has produced Northern Meteor, Rubick and Zoustar, Needs Further is out of the Gr.1 Golden Slipper runner-up Crowned Glory, a daughter of breed shaper Danehill, and he was victorious in the ATC Gr.3 Carbine Club Stakes, from just five career starts.

Needs Further’s statistics rival many leading sires and is highlighted by $3.7m stakes earner Mystic Journey who by winning the Gr.1 VRC Australian Guineas aligns herself with the best fillies of their respective generations in Miss Finland, Mosheen and Shamrocker.

Needs Further’s progeny includes the exciting sprinter Bold Star, winner of the Listed VRC Kensington Stakes, Gr.3 TTC Vamos Stakes winner Deroche, also a winner of the Tasmanian Magic Millions 2YO and 3YO Classics, as well as multiple Stakes winning fillies Pateena Arena and Mystical Pursuits.

“We have had increasing interest from several mainland stud farms to stand Needs Further over the last two seasons,” commented Armidale Stud Manager David Whishaw. 

“He’s arguably had the best start to a stud career that any Tasmanian based stallion has had in the modern era and he really has earnt the right to access the bigger and better quality books of mares which Aquis and the Victorian market will no doubt offer.” 

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With his progeny dominating the 2019 Tasmanian Horse of the Year awards winning every award with a clean sweep, Needs Further was also crowned Sire of the Year and Leading Juvenile Sire, being the sire of every feature 2YO winner for the season in Tasmania.

With three individual juvenile Stakes winners to his credit, as well as two winners of the Tasmania Magic Millions 2YO Classic and siring the 2YO of the Year in Tasmania in every season he has stood at stud, it is clearly evident that Needs Further will be a perfect stallion for the lucrative Super VOBIS scheme.

Like Northern Meteor (Encosta De Lago), Needs Further was foaled, raised and raced by Gooree Park, one of the most famous nurseries in Australasia and producer of leading sires and Champion racehorses.

“Versatility is everything in a successful sire and Needs Further possesses this undeniable quality; feature 2YO winners, sprinter-milers and Classic 3YOs at the highest level, a trend that will continue with support from Victorian breeders who appreciate his value,” summed up Williams.

Needs Further will stand at Aquis Seymour, VIC at a fee of $13,750 (inc. GST)

For more information, contact Aquis CEO, Tony “Tubba” Williams on 0428 932 663 or Aquis Operations Manager – Victoria, Murray Tillett on 0419 985 921.

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