‘Jonker Australia’s best-priced first season stallion’
High-speed Manikato Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Jonker (Spirit Of Boom), a tough sprinter who matched it with some of Australia’s best sprinters of recent seasons, has all the right attributes to make it as a top stallion, says Aquis Farm’s director of sales Jonathan Davies.
Jonker will stand at Aquis Farm in Queensland at a fee of $16,500 (inc GST) in his first season later this year after the Fung family owned operation signed a deal to buy the rising seven-year-old stallion after interest was expressed by a number of Australian studs keen to stand the son of Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo).
Aquis did not add a new stallion to its roster in 2021 and Davies yesterday revealed they were prepared to wait for the right sire rather than “standing a stallion for the sake of getting one” and he is confident the QTIS eligible sire Jonker is just that.
“I think he is going to be really well received and I think he is a horse who should also entice breeders from NSW and Victoria, especially priced at $15,000 plus GST. A horse with his credentials and the type of horse he is, from what we’ve seen in a very strong market at the moment, I think Jonker’s the best-priced first season stallion in the country, to be honest,” Davies told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“He was a very good juvenile, obviously a Group 1 winner of a proper weight for age sprint and physically you will go a long way to find a nicer horse. He is an absolutely magnificent stallion and from what we’ve seen in the market he is an absolute steal.”
Runner-up to subsequent Everest (1200m) winner Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt) in the Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (Gr 2, 1200m) at Randwick and third behind I Am Excited (Snitzel) and Redzel (Snitzel) in the Victory Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m), Jonker also finished third in last year’s running of The Galaxy (Gr 1, 1100m) won by Eduardo (Host) and second in the Kingsford-Smith Cup (Gr 1, 1300m) during the same preparation.
At his first start for trainer Tony Gollan in the Keith Noud (Listed, 1200m) in November 2020, Jonker stopped the clock in a scintillating 1:07.83 seconds, bettering the previous record held by the globe-trotting sprinter Takeover Target (Celtic Swing).
Jonker also won the $1 million Magic Millions Snippets (1200m) at the 2021 carnival prior to his tilt at Group 1 races.
Racing from two to six, Jonker won his first two starts in December of his juvenile season with his dominant four-and-a-quarter Wyong Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1100m) win propelling him to the top of the market for the following month’s $2 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) on the Gold Coast for his Newcastle-based trainer David Atkins.
However, his winning chance was ruined shortly after the start when he and jockey Hugh Bowman copped severe interference, an experience which also brought an end to his juvenile season.
Jonker, from the first crop of Spirit Of Boom and a $45,000 purchase from the 2017 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, is out of Hearts And Arrows (Kempinsky), a half-sister to Group 3 winners Fair Trade (Danewin) and Fiscal Fantasy (Skilled), the latter Group 1-placed in New Zealand, and he is also 5×5 to the grand-producing mare Eight Carat (Pieces Of Eight).
“Being a descendant of Eight Carat, she is just a stallion-making machine, that mare, and that line opens up so many options in pedigrees and in-breeding. We’ve seen the success of in-breeding to Eight Carat and also her daughter Cotehele House and that’s why I think he is great value,” Davies said.
“He will suit a large number of mares, being by Spirit Of Boom and being 15.3-and-a-half hands, and he’s a very strong horse with a beautiful head. The thing I love most about him is that he’s so incredibly well balanced.
“He fills the eye and he moves beautifully, he’s got a great action. He is a horse who will surprise a lot of people and impress a lot of people when they see him.”
Jonker’s managing owner Doug Crane said of the $2 million prize-money earner: “Having met the team from Aquis Farm and perusing the facilities, we decided it was time for Jonker to go to a deserving home.
“He has provided us with some great times that will be missed but his lovely nature will ensure he enjoys his next stage in life which we can all enjoy being part of.”
Aquis Farm, which also has the likes of Pierata (Pierro) and young stallions The Mission (Choisir), Invader (Snitzel) and Dubious (Not A Single Doubt) on its roster, is expected to announced fees for the remainder of its line-up in the near future.