Luke Koumi has been involved in the thoroughbred industry for quite some time now. Forty plus years in fact.
Raced a few, bred a few.
Ironically enough, for such an avid participant he tends to tune out when you talk hypotheticals though. For Luke, a discussion about linebreeding works better than sleeping pills.
He instantly perks up however when the conversation switches to things more tangible … like strike rates for instance.
South Australian based, Luke, took the plunge earlier this year and purchased the Japanese Group 1 winning son of Real Impact in LAUDA SION, deciding to stand him at successful Victorian nursery, Larneuk Stud.
Luke likes the sireline – what’s not to like, eh? – the family and, not be understated, Lauda Sion’s race record.
But that’s all just first glance stuff … to Luke, the real ‘meat’, when it boils down to stallion selection, is winners to runners.
“Obviously Lauda Sion is a first season sire but his own sire, Real Impact, did incredibly well from his three seasons down under,” Luke points out. “He (Real Impact) ended up siring 120 winners from 161 runners here in Australia … that’s 75% winners to runners. Obviously the sireline is compatible with Australian mares.
“Real Impact’s sire, Deep Impact, was a Champion Sire in Japan 10 times who had a strike rate of 75%. As for Deep Impact’s sire, Sunday Silence … what a superstar. He was Champion Sire in Japan on 12 occasions and his strike rate? You guessed it … 75%!
“And that’s just one side of the coin … the first four dams in Lauda Sion’s pedigree have produced 28 winners from 33 to race – 85%. What’s more, 10 of them were stakes performers, including three Group 1 winners, two Group 2 winners and, not to put too fine a point on it, three of the Group winners other than Lauda Sion are sires.”
As a former president of the South Australian Owners’ Association, Luke reckons he’s got some insight to what owners want … and that is “WINNERS!”.
“Lauda Sion is a smashing type and he was durable too, racing from 2 years to 5,” Luke adds. “He was a precocious 2YO winning his first start halfway through Japan’s season in June and went on to win two races, along with a placing in a Group 3 out of 4 starts as a juvenile.
“He won the NHK Mile over 1600m in Tokyo at 3 but was a Group 2 winner over 1400m at 4 too. And we all know how well Japanese horses go here in Australia.
“Funnily enough, Lauda Sion is actually named after a prayer and, let’s face it, this whole industry is built on a wing and a prayer.
“But when the sireline is shooting at 75% and the family at 85% - not to mention an introductory service fee of $11,000 for a Group 1 winner – you might not have to do that much praying!”
For further information about Lauda Sion, phone Neville Murdoch at Larneuk Stud on 0418 105 706, email neville@larneuk.com or visit https://larneuk.com
