MISHANI ENTERPRISES IS REAPING THE REWARDS OF THE AQUIS BREEDERS' BONUS SCHEME

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, November 16, 2021

The concept of the Aquis breeder’s bonus, which was originally offered to both announce the presence of the then stud’s new stallion, The Mission, and to keep the focus firmly on the progress of his progeny, has proved to be a resounding success.

Two runners, Mishani Warfare (The Mission – Mishani Harmony) and Mishani Mental (The Mission – Mishani Lotus), both trained by Les Ross, have each claimed a $100 000 Aquis breeder’s bonus which applied to progeny of The Mission as two-year-old winners of a Metropolitan race.

The bonus is paid to the breeder, and in both of these cases that was Mike Crooks, the principal of Mishani Enterprises and the owner/breeder of both of the Aquis bonus winners.

It’s great when a punt comes off.

In essence, that was what both Aquis and Crooks did … with the stud trying to woo clientele with a tempting option and with Crooks lining up the services of his mares to The Mission, knowing that, while the bonus would be nice, winning the bonus would probably mean you also had a fair horse on your hands … with its prize-money earnings, of course, adding weight to the return on investment.

And Crooks wasn’t going in half measures. In a bold move, as confirmed by Aquis’ Sales Director Jonathon Davies, before The Mission even had a runner, Crooks booked no less than sixteen of his mares for services to The Mission … and that decision has certainly earned its reward.

This breeder’s bonus scheme by Aquis is a first in Queensland on a number of levels.

It is the first time an individual sire carries a bonus scheme in its own right and it is also the first $1 million bonus scheme for a stud in the state.

Eleven individual bonus payments are on offer … from the $1 million bonus to win a Group One two-year-old race, the Magic Millions Classic or the Inglis Millennium, all the way down through the grades … to a Group 2 win bonus ($500,000), a Group 3 win bonus ($300,000) a Listed win bonus ($250,000) as well as the $100,000 bonus for winning metropolitan races. There are also bonus payments for wins outside Australia.

While the marketing of The Mission was the focal point, the bonus concept was also unashamedly designed to give the local industry in Queensland a boost and, there is another really nice touch to the whole operation as Aquis will donate 10 per cent of any bonus payment to thoroughbred or farming charities.

In a changing world and changing times, innovation can be the key to any business staying viable.

Such is the pace and the stresses and strains of the game these days, if you are standing still you are probably actually moving backwards.

Nobody can accuse Aquis or Crooks of falling into that trap and as for trainer Les Ross who has a strong record over the years of producing a spate of two-year-old winners … well, his smile just got that much bigger!

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