Robbie Griffiths and Mathew de Kock should not be surprised if there are a few enquiries for Yaki Ishi if he runs well in the Group 2 VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes at Flemington.
Last year’s 1400m race for two-year-olds was the final start Hitotsu had for Wendy Kelly before he was sold to Ozzie Kheir and partners and transferred to Ciaron Maher and David Eustace .
The rest is history with Hitotsu going on to claim the Group 1 Victoria Derby in the spring and return last Saturday to win the Group 1 Australian Guineas.
The thing Yaki Ishi and Hitotsu have in common is they are both by Japanese stallion Maurice and for Griffiths and de Kock, they hope the similarities don’t end there.
Yaki Ishi will be having only his second start and had the two-year-old drawn a better gate on Saturday, de Kock would have fancied the colt’s chances.
“He ran first time out at Pakenham and ran fourth and we were impressed with that run,” de Kock said.
“He’s a nice colt that we think a bit of and his sectional times at Pakenham were pretty outstanding. I think he ran the fastest last 600 metres for the whole day.
“He’s a nice horse but unfortunately, he’s draw horribly, 14 of 16, which is a big negative from our side, so we’ll need a lot of luck in running.
“If he was drawn in the first half of the field, I would be pretty bullish of his chances, but being drawn out wide he’ll have a mountain to climb.”
Yaki Ishi is part-owned by de Kock’s father, champion South African trainer Mike who watched the colt’s dam Merlene de Lago race with success in South Africa before returning to Australia to be a broodmare.
One of the first foals Merlene de Lago had was Burnstone, who Griffiths trained to win a Blue Diamond Preview at his only start before an untimely death.
De Kock said Yaki Ishi is a two-year-old that will get better as he gets out in distance.
“He’s a nice horse to watch for the future,” de Kock said.