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Aquis Farm and Phoenix Thoroughbreds sell son of Redoute’s Choice outright
Having purchased a share in Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) Farnan (Not A Single Doubt) last month, Kia Ora Stud made their intentions of entering the stallion market even clearer on Thursday after they snared dual Group 3-winning colt Prague (Redoute’s Choice), who will stand at the New South Wales-based farm at the resumption of his racing career.
Kia Ora Stud now own the son of Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) outright, having purchased him from Aquis Farm and Phoenix Thoroughbreds and the Ciraon Maher and David Eustace-trained colt will don the New South Wales-based farm’s silks when he makes his three-year-old debut, which was thought to be in the San Domenico Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) on Saturday, but connections opted not to accept the colt.
Kia Ora’s bloodstock and breeding manager Shane Wright told Racing and Sports Bloodstock that the purchase of Prague and Farnan reflected Ananda Krishnan’s commitment to the breeding industry.
“Kia Ora has stood stallions over it’s long history for years, even now we have large shares in some stallions around the Hunter Valley, but we wanted to get back to the stallion market,” said Wright.
“Mr Krishnan has always had a huge passion for racing and breeding, especially in Australia and it was something he has wanted to do for a long time and it is a matter of getting the people on the right horses around and this year it has provided him the right opportunity to do both.
“When we did the brief we only wanted to do it with stallions that we would also want to get behind 100 per cent and I think these two horses are a testament with one being a son of Redoute’s Choice and the other being the son of Not A Single Doubt and they both have two very exciting three-year-old careers ahead of them, so it’s very exciting for Kia Ora.”
Prague has won three of his six career starts, headed by victories in the Canonbury Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) and Pago Pago Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), while he was last seen running a close second behind King’s Legacy (Redoute’s Choice) in the Sires' Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) on his final start as a juvenile.
Purchased for a $1.6 million by Phoenix Thoroughbreds and Aquis Farms at last year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale from the Bhima Thoroughbreds draft, Prague is out of Pins (Snippets) mare Purely Spectacular making the colt a half-brother to dual Group 1 winner and now Widden Stud-based stallion Stratum Star (Stratum) and Group 3-placed Serenade (Star Witness).
Meanwhile, Aquis Farms’ managing director Shane McGrath said the sale of the Prague and a share in Farnan made sense from a business perspective.
“It all came down to dollars and cents,” said McGrath. “It is a business we run and like anything if you get a commercial offer the head has to lead the heart. From an Aquis prospective it does show that we are a commercial business and open-minded to each and every approach that is presented to us. Both of these decisions weren’t taken lightly, but from the Fung family’s perspective it is a business.
“We have had a great run with Farnan, who we have stayed and will enjoy the rest of his career. Mr Krishnan has always had a soft spot for Prague and he is obviously setting up a stallion roster of his own and he has managed to secure two leading prospects for the farm.
“Mr Krishnan and Tony Fung have been friends for a long time and it’s nice that they continue to do business and from our point of view it made good business sense for us. Kia Ora is a iconic name here in Australia and it is synonymous with standing stallions and they’ve decided to turn back the wheel and go back into the stallion standing business and they are definitely going the right way with these two colts.”
