Aquatic King Rewards Belief

When Baerami Thoroughbreds principal Paul Higgins stumbled across the retiring racehorse Ishiguru he felt the horse had the credentials required to be an asset to the Australian breeding industry. After limited negotiations a deal was struck between the owner of the progressive Tweenhills establishment in England, David Redvers, and Baerami to stand Ishiguru in Australia. A common connection was present in the form of Richard Pegum, the well known banker and racehorse owner who although originally from Sydney presently resides in London. A client of both operations, Richards equity in Ishiguru made the deal a "no brainer".

It was felt by all parties that demand for such a superbly bred individual who was a stunning type and had genuine ability would be solid and a book of about 75 mares was anticipated. An unanticipated problem was competition from another on farm stallion in Honours List, a similar type to Ishiguru. Baerami's own mare budgets showed somewhere between 175 and 200 mares being booked to these two stallions and a figure of around 160 to 180 actually served, which were very accurate however the distribution of the mares was not as even as anticipated and Ishiguru only served 30 mares. At the end of the day, when given the choice between a son of Danzig and a son of Danehill most people opted for the Danehill.

This obviously made a second season in the tough Hunter Valley market unlikely and the decision was made to send him to New Zealand for the shuttle in subsequent years. A stunning start in the Northern Hemisphere had all parties confident of success here also. One of the mares sent to Ishiguru by Richard Pegum was his handy stakes placed mare Mermaid, a daughter of Crested Wave. With little other black type in the family it is not a true select sale pedigree however her record of producing winners is encouraging to the say the least with Aquatic King becoming winner number 7 from 7 runners. On Saturday he emulated his year older half sister, Aquabelle, by winning his first start as a 2yo in the Sydney metropolitan area on a Saturday. Regarded by most parade ring judges as not fully fit yet, further improvement can be anticipated.

Aquatic King was a horse that impressed all who saw him from an early age. Typical of the Ishiguru progeny, he is of medium size but has great bone and strength. The staff at Baerami always viewed him as a standout type from weaning and even the then four year old Hugh Higgins "gave" him to his grandfather as it was mutually agreed between those two parties this was the pick of the yearling crop. It is also interesting to note that Mermaids next two foals, a Rhythm colt going to the 2007 Classic sale and a Danasinga colt at foot, both rated higher at birth than Aquatic King.

Two other people to have a big opinion of the Ishiguru colt were Matt Rudolph of William Inglis and trainer Greg Hickman. During the cut and thrust of yearling nominations and inspections one horse that Matt almost insisted on for the Classic sale was this colt. At the sale it was obvious that Greg Hickman had fallen for him as well. Greg had previously purchased Aquabelle from Baerami and had seen the level of development she achieved from yearling sale time through to the commencement of her 2yo career so it was obvious to Greg that a similar level of improvement in this nice colt would see him even more forward and precocious.

Another pleasing aspect for Baerami from this win is that the present crop of 2yo's are the first to be solely raised on the pastures of the newly developed farm that was added at the end of 2005. He is the second runner for the second winner. Indeed, these two horses have had 4 starts between them for 2 wins and 2 placing's, both in the Sydney metro area. We felt we had good land with suitable topography but now it has been confirmed.

This is the second time in the few short years that the Classic sale and race have been paired together, that a Baerami product has had a real chance of taking out the event. We were selfishly disappointed when Bel Esprit by passed the race to concentrate on the Blue Diamond, a decision that John Symons had vindicated with victory, so we hoping that Greg Hickman puts any grandiose plans on the back burner for a while so that we can get our name on the winners list (and get a 30k vendors bonus for the breeder of course).

The final note on this is the incredible success that horses from the Classic sale have achieved. No serious buyer can ignore this sale as every year it throws up a series of gems and nearly always at bargain prices. It also doesn't hurt to have Greg Hickman buy them (think also Sportsman, Sir Dex etc) or Baerami sell them (Bel Esprit, Bird Dancer, Al Magdam, Zarouk etc) but whoever buys them or sells them, value will always be there.