Foal Focus: First foal for Hawaii Five Oh impresses

Cover image courtesy of Vinery Stud

Westbury Stud and Vinery Stud announced the first foal for first season sire Hawaii Five Oh on Wednesday, and the bay filly is out of unraced Merzouga (Desert King {Ire}).

Gerry Harvey bred Vinery Stud’s first season sire Hawaii Five Oh, a son of I Am Invincible and Harvey’s G1 Coolmore Classic winning mare Aloha (Encosta De Lago) and raced him in conjunction with Strawberry Hill Stud and Ray Hadley.

“Gerry bred a number of mares to Hawaii Five Oh and thought it was a good opportunity to send some mares to foal here, and then they can be sold here as yearling to give the horse a presence here,” said Westbury Stud’s general manager Russell Warwick.

Bred to be fast and lived up to it

Hawaii Five Oh won on debut as an August 3-year-old for trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, then was third in the Listed Heritage Stakes at his second start. He returned in the autumn to win the G3 Hawkesbury Guineas and G3 Fred Best Classic, before running third in the G1 Stradbroke Handicap behind two Group 1 winning older horses in Think About It (So You Think {NZ}) and Rothfire (Rothesay).

Back at four he was sandwiched between Think About It and Group 1 winner Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai) when second in the G2 Premiere Stakes before running sixth in the G1 The Everest.

Aloha has also produced Group 2 winner and Group 1 placed Libertini, a full brother to Hawaii Five Oh.

Trans-tasman yearling strategy

Westbury Stud was purchased by Gerry Harvey in 2009. He also owns Baramul Stud and is a shareholder in Vinery Stud.

“We’ve been doing it for a while. Our yearling draft (for 2026) includes several Australian stallions. We have a Snitzel and an Ole Kirk. It adds a bit of difference to our draft and to the sale in general. I think the Ole Kirk might be the only one offered (in New Zealand) in 2026, and to be able to offer eight or ten yearlings by Australian sires is a good point of difference for us,” said Warwick.

“Gerry sent four mares over here in foal to Hawaii Five Oh, and Merzouga is the first to foal. The intention is that the filly will be reared here and sold through Karaka, and of course Hawaii Five Oh covered a big book so he’ll have plenty of representation at the major Australian sales too. It gives the sire a wider reach as well.”

A strong pedigree to support Hawaii Five Oh

Unraced Merzouga is a daughter of dual Group 3 winner Moment In Time (Archway), making Merzouga a half-sister to dual G3 Counties Cup winner In A Twinkling (Fastnet Rock) who also placed in the G1 New Zealand Derby, and to 2019 Horse of the Year in Singapore I’m Incredible (Lope De Vega {Ire}) who was three Listed races.

Gallery: Hawaii Five Oh first foal, Images supplied

“She’s a good foal, a tall leggy filly. She’s got good bone for a young foal, good girth, hindquarter, and if you look at her in a month’s time, she’ll be an impressive foal. Hawaii Five Oh has plenty of size too, and she has that natural strength. I’m looking forward to seeing her mature,” said Warwick.

Merzouga joined Harvey’s broodmare band in 2022 when purchased by Luke McDonald for $22,000 at the Magic Millions March Online Sale, and she had a mixed breeding record before then with two live foals from five seasons at stud, but neither of those foals has completed their DNA testing with the Stud Book. Since her purchase, Merzouga has a 2-year-old Toronado (Ire) filly, and was empty for the 2024 foaling season.

“She’s a good style of mare, 16hh with a good deep girth, but the foal is showing more similarity to Hawaii Five Oh and also to what we’ve come to expect from I Am Invincible. I can see the sire line coming through in the physical make-up of the foal.”

Hawaii Five Oh covered 173 mares in his first season at Vinery Stud at a fee of $16,500 including GST and he remains at that fee for 2025.