It’s been a big 24 hours for Aquis Farm’s ‘fresh’ roster with Spieth’s first crop 2YOs displaying their wares at Gold Coast barrier trials on Monday, while another exciting newcomer in The Mission made his presence felt at two Deagon trials on Tuesday.
The 16-strong roster at Aquis is a heady mix of proven and promising and The Mission has definitely caught the imagination of breeders, covering over 100 mares in his first book.
Little wonder! A striking son of Choisir (100 stakes winners plus), The Mission is the best 2YO by the emerging sire-of-sires with successes in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes and Group 3 Schweppervesence – earning The Mission his worthy title of ‘Co-Champion of his Generation’.
And, from the looks of the Deagon trials, we won’t have to wait too long for his own 2YOs.
Mishani Mental and Mishani Embrace got the ball rolling in Heat 7 at Deagon, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively and earned plaudits from their trainer Les Ross: “It was the first time we have really let them go and what they did today they will only improve on. I like them: they are nice big, strong horses, well behaved, cool, and do everything right.”
Les had even more reason to be excited when his three youngsters by The Mission – Mishani Sunshine (1st), Mishani Warfare (2nd) and The Missionary (4th) – capped the morning off perfectly with their performances in the following heat.
Mishani Sunshine is the first foal from One Golden Day, a six time Brisbane metro winner by Pressday from the family of Group I winner Instant Celebrity.
Their collective efforts certainly didn’t escape the eye of breeder Mike Crooks from Mishani Racing: “I love him … out of all the young stock I have coming through, the progeny of The Mission are the most exciting. I’ll be supporting him again this year.”
Not surprisingly, Aquis Director of Sales, Jonathan Davies was over the moon with the trial results: “It’s a very pleasing start for The Mission. It comes as no surprise that his 2YOs are performing and we’ve had very positive feedback over the last few months.
“We’ve been expecting to see some promising The Mission progeny from Mishani Racing as they have already booked in 16 mares to The Mission this season. It’s been a great start for our first season sires, following on from Spieth’s first trial winner at the Gold Coast yesterday.”
It’s shaping to a remarkable few months for Aquis Farm stallions with the first of the Spieths and The Missions poised to appear on race day, the initial yearlings by Brave Smash, Lean Mean Machine, Performer and Santos ready to light up sale rings in 2022, while the first foals of Bellevue Hill, Dubious and Pierata are now arriving at farms throughout Australia.
