‘A Champion Can Come from Anywhere’

Sponsored Content - by Tara Madgwick - Thursday July 25

An enthusiastic owner breeder that has raced horses for 40 years and managed to keep his passion for thoroughbreds on the right side of the financial ledger has taken the plunge on a stallion prospect.

A fast sprinter miler that won a Group I in Japan at 1600m and is sired by a Japanese bred Australian Group I winner, Lauda Sion (Jpn) is new to Larneuk Stud this spring and is an intriguing prospect. His career highlight win came in the Group I NHK Mile Cup, a race won by Admire Mars (Jpn), who currently shuttles to Arrowfield and also Mikki Isle (Jpn), who also shuttled to Arrowfield leaving Australian stakes-winners Dragonstone and Katsu.

Lauda Sion is the best son of Deep Impact’s globe-trotting son Real Impact (Jpn) who came to Australia in 2015 and was an instant success winning the Group I ATC George Ryder Stakes at WFA beating Criterion and then finished second in the Group I ATC Doncaster Handicap to Kermadec, now a Group I producing sire himself.

As a result of his efforts, Real Impact shuttled to Arrowfield Stud for three seasons between 2016 and 2018 producing 218 foals.

Those three crops of foals with the youngest about to turn five have delivered 131 winners from 177 runners which is 74% winners to runners for his Aussie bred offspring!

Those winners include $2.6million earning Group II winner Count de Rupee, Group III WA Oaks winner Lunar Impact and $1.4million earning Group I placed stakes-winner Sky Lab, plus a further seven stakes-placed performers.

Lauda Sion (Jpn) is a grand-son of the breed shaping sire Deep Impact, click for more info.

In Japan, the best performer for Real Impact has been Lauda Sion and he was brought to Australia by Yulong to join the Chris Waller stable with the intention of racing.

He had just the one unplaced start in Melbourne before he was retired due to injury and was offered by Yulong through Inglis Digital (click here to see his page) where he caught the eye of South Australian owner and breeder Luke Koumi who paid $150,000 to secure the stallion prospect.

Koumi approached Neville Murdoch to stand Lauda Sion at Larneuk Stud and his fee has been set at $11,000.

“He was a very good racehorse that won as a two year-old over 1200m and trained on to be a Group I winner at three,” said Neville Murdoch.

“Luke has mares of his own and has bought even more to go to this stallion, so we know he will cover a decent number to give him an opportunity to succeed.

“Japanese bloodlines are proven in elite races all over the world over and we’re delighted to add Lauda Sion to our line up.”

Lauda Sion (Jpn)  stands at $11,000 and is all quality, click for more info.

But what was it that attracted Luke Koumi to Lauda Sion?

“I love looking through the Inglis Digital sales and go through all of them,” Koumi revealed.

“When I saw Lauda Sion, a Japanese bred Group I winning stallion being offered by Yulong, I thought what is this? Why would they be selling a horse like that?

“So I delved into his race record, background and pedigree and discovered that it all checked out, so when he was later passed in I decided to ring them and see if I could buy him as it seemed cheap for a stallion with his credentials.

“So many of the stallions that go to stud now are precocious horses that were quite protected and didn’t train on very well and I like the idea of a horse with real toughness and longevity. A horse that won at two as Lauda Sion did, but also trained on at three, four and five and was able to win up to a mile.”

Koumi lives in South Australia and has been an owner/ breeder going back to1984 and has had much success with numerous stakes-winners over the years including Australian Horse of the Year Better Loosen Up and Adelaide Cup winner Rialya, so is hoping the Lauda Sion experiment will be a rewarding one.

“It’s a long road to stand a stallion and then have to wait for years to find out whether they are any good or not, but racing has been very good to me and I’m looking forward to it,” said Koumi, who was at one time President of the South Australian Racehorse Owners Association.

“I’ve been extremely lucky in racing the horses that I have with Better Loosen Up the best of them followed by plenty of other horses that have won Group and stakes races.

“I have kept all the stats from when I first started owning horses and overall I would be in front, but you don’t go into this to make money. It’s a fantastic sport if you treat it as a hobby and enjoy it.

“I always tell people the real beauty and the pull of racing is that a champion can come from anywhere.

“I don’t believe a lot of what people tell you about breeding horses.

“If the big commercial breeders and bloodstock agents really knew exactly what they were doing, they would breed and keep all the good horses and nobody else would have them, but that doesn’t happen!”

Advertisment
More Reading...
Coles Bows Out After 60 Years
Pukekohe’s Wednesday meeting marked the end of an era for Auckland Thoroughbred Racing, as Ross Coles, a treasured figure in the industry, retired after 60 years as Clerk of the Course.
Do Early Winners Equate to Long Term Stud Success?
As we move towards the end of the racing season, attention invariably focuses on first season sires and who will be the leader of the cohort by winners and it’s a close run race this year, but does any of it matter in the grand scheme of things?
$190,000 Per Incanto Colt Heads Vibrant Weanling Sale
The  2025 National Weanling Sale saw its first dual-code weanling session in play at Karaka, with a total aggregate of $2,410,000 outlaid across 84 lots by a strong domestic buying bench plus international support from Australia, Hong Kong and China.
Storm Boy Retired to Coolmore Australia
An utterly dominant winner of the $3 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic, the hugely exciting son of the international sire sensation Justify is set to join the Coolmore Australia roster in 2025.
Mulberry Racing Secure Everest Slot
Racing NSW today announced that Mulberry Racing has secured a slot in the $20 million TAB Everest for a term of three years commencing with the running of this year’s race.
Kaha Nui Swoop on Pinhook Prospects
Successful pinhookers Kaha Nui Farm were to the fore at Karaka on Thursday, and were rewarded with the crown of leading buyer at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Weanling Sale.
Sires With Winners - Wednesday June 25
Here is the full list of 42 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Flying Artie 2YO Wins by Four!
Blue Gum Farm have an appealing roster of three sires for this spring and while it’s all in front of Sejardan and Oxley Road, proven favourite Flying Artie remains unbeatable value and the G1 sire produced a four length 2YO winner on Thursday.
Irish Oaks Possible for Royal Ascot Fairytale Filly
The biggest story in terms of our audience reads from Royal Ascot last week was by far and away the one on the Aussie owned underdog three year-old filly Cercene, who captured the Group I Coronation Stakes.
Blueblood Filly a Third Winner for Tagaloa
Group I MRC Blue Diamond Stakes winner Tagaloa is one of the more affordable sires on the Yulong roster and he sired his third winner at Bendigo on Thursday when well bred filly Teine Aulelia made a winning debut.