There was quite a revealing interview with Mick Price on Breednet during the week concerning the Japanese champion Maurice (JPN).
Price revealed he was targeting Maurice's progeny (JPN) as he believes the Japanese Horse Of The Year will come into his own when his first crop turns three next season.
With his first crop of two-year-olds on the track in Australia, there is little doubt that more will be heard of Maurice (JPN) when the distances begin to stretch out.
Even though he was runner-up first season sire in Japan last season, it took Maurice (JPN) some time before registering the first of his 32 individual winners. Quite a few of them debuted over 1600m or 2000m.
First season sire rankings are often a numbers game. Maurice (JPN) was well served with his first Japanese crop with 113 runners while the champion Duramente had 35 winners from his 105 runners.
Maurice (JPN) had 179 foals from 265 mares covered while Duramente covered 284 mares in his first season and a mind-boggling 294 mares in his second. (Has there been a non-dual purpose stallion cover over 300 mares?)
Maurice (JPN) had a more sedate time of it at Arrowfield.
He left 83 live foals in his first crop from 121 mares covered.
One of those was the Hussonet (USA) mare Lahana who produced a brown colt that Arrowfield consigned to the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
He caught the eye of Gary Portelli who shelled out $80,000, the least expensive of the 11 yearlings by Maurice (JPN) at the sale.
Named Akihiro, he made his first start in the Victory Vein Plate at Randwick last October, finishing second to the promising Captivant.
He may have surprised the stable that day as he started at $51.
The son of Maurice (JPN) will be at extended odd again when he reappears after 17 weeks in Saturday's Pierro Plate $1100m at Randwick.
Akihiro would be a hard horse to back off his trials. He takes a bit of riding and needs to be scrubbed along, but he is a little bulldog and is sure to progress as the distances increase.
His dam Lahana failed to run a place in her two starts at Scone.
However, she is a daughter of one of the great racemares of the 21st century, Alinghi.
There is no sugar coating it, as phenomenal as she was on the track, Alinghi was a major disappointment as a broodmare.
The dam of six live foals before her death in 2017, Alinghi had three winners from five to reach the track.
She had just one colt, a son of Snitzel named America who was sold for $1.8 million at the 2015 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. After finishing down the track in three starts, America found a home at Rosden Park, South Australia.
Alinghi was herself an $80,000 purchase by Slade Bloodstock at the 2003 Premier Yearling Sale in Melbourne.
Trained by Lee Freedman, Encosta de Lago's daughter won the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes, Group II Reisling Stakes, Group III Blue Diamond Prelude, and was third in the Golden Slipper at two. The following season she won the Group 1 Thousand Guineas, Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes and Group 1 Newmarket Handicap before being purchased privately by Arrowfield for a figure reported being around $3million.
She was sent to the U.S. to be trained by Bobby Frankel.
Alinghi won her American debut in the GIII Ballston Spa Breeders' Cup Hcp over a mile at Saratoga but suffered a tendon injury when eighth in the Group 1 Keeneland Turf Mile.
Though Alinghi was a disappointing broodmare, her stakes-placed sisters Perfect Persuasion and Slice Of Paradise fared better.
Perfect Persuasion is the dam of the Group III-placed lady Sharapova (Fastnet Rock). Slice Of Paradise is the dam of the Group III winner and Group 1 placed Beneteau who proved a major loss to the industry when he died after two seasons at Arrowfield Stud.
One of Alinghi's three winners was Lahana's recently deceased sister Line Honours, the dam of the stakes-placed winners Extra Olives and Regatta Rebel.
Tom Magnier purchased Extra Olives for $875,000 at the 2019 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
Arrowfield is going full-out to make sure Alinghi's legacy lives on.
The final foal of the 4-time Group 1 winner is Deep Impact's daughter Reaching. The Newcastle maiden winner was covered by Written Tycoon in her first season at stud last spring.
Another two of Alinghi's daughters, Defender (Redoute's Choice) and Dame Pattie (Snitzel) visited Written Tycoon.
Lahana has a colt from the final crop of Redoute's Choice in the Arrowfield Stud consignment at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
