Belated news seems to be the order of the day! ;-) Anyway, we can now finally conclude the over-all winner of the 2010 Tategoi Challenge, with the final casting vote coming from Okawa Koi Farm, as coincidentally, both of the finalists this year are from Okawa Koi Farm. The one on the left is now 53cm as Nisai, and the one on the right being 57cm. The winning Koi is the one on the right, and belongs to Raad Hassan (it was no fix!). The other one belongs to Stuart T. As his prize, Raad gets to use the value of his original Koi (£1900, pictured above) to use against another Koi of his choice.

What swung the decision on the Koi above, was the slightly stronger body of Raad's Koi, and the Kiwa being more refined. The skin condition was not so good at the time of photographing, but this is purely a 'condition' issue, and in no way reflects upon the skin quality, as you will see when she grows up.

This year was a close run between these two Koi, and a few others, including a Sanke (Greg), Okawa Kohaku (Paul), and Takeda Kohaku (Wayne).

Ironically, there was one Koi that was a little better than the rest, and this Koi was one we sold last Autumn as Nisai, after recommending her as the best of all last year's Koi to anyone that visited! This Koi measured 60cm as Nisai, but sold after the closing date of the challenge.

In case you are not already aware, any of this years Tosai purchased, already automatically qualify for the next challenge, to be concluded next Spring. The prize as always, is up to the value of the original Koi purchased, or a maximum of £2000. Most of this year's Koi fall inside this limit though, as did last year's Koi.

The closing date for purchases this year, will be August 15th. As last year, there will be two classes '£700 Class', and 'unlimited'.

We have just returned this evening from the BKKS National Koi Show. This year, it was held at a new venue in Stafford, with the entire weekend being run faultlessly by all that helped organised the event!

Koi sales were not permitted this weekend, due to the local council not being prepared to issue a pet shop license, though this actually made it more enjoyable for us, as it meant that a dealers section of the show was laid on for those that wanted to participate. This added an angle of fun to the show that was never present before!

As for the Koi at this weekends Show... perhaps this was our best result yet? Of the 7 Champions, 'Yume' Koi took four of the the awards, with the following...

Grand Champion... John Hellens, with Takigawa 88cm Kohaku 'The Duchess'
Mature Champion... Raad Hassan, with a Matsue 81cm 5 year old Kohaku, that we sold him when Nisai. He has grown her in his own pond, with 'Summer only' feeding, and 24c of water temps.
Adult Champion... Raad Hassan, with a Matsue 74cm 4 year old Kohaku, that he bought with us in Japan as Nisai. This was their 'Kashira' when purchased.
Non-Go-Sanke Champion... Raad Hassan, with a 70cm Takigawa Tancho. We sold this Koi when Nisai, to another client, and then 'resold' her to Raad when Sansai.

We would like to congratulate John and Raad for the above awards, and thank them for their support and faith over the years!

The icing on the cake... 'Ma Boy' (joke nickname) won the top award in the dealers part of the show. This Momotaro Sanke is one that we bought as small Tosai, and raised here at Yume Koi solely to prove that male Koi can get BIG. He is now 6 years old, and 80cm.

I will add photos to this, as soon as I get my hands on some.

Many thanks,

Mike & Elisa.

Yes, it's that time of year! Congratulations to Michael H, whom I haven't told yet. I'm going to see how many hours it takes for him to find out by 'word of mouth' ;-)  I have been running a tad late with the judging of this years winners, but the sub £700 class is decided, with this years winner being a stunning Omosako Shiro Utsuri, owned by Michael. This Koi arrived in Spring 2009 as female Tosai of 23cm. As Nisai she measured 45cm when the photo was submitted to us in March. And yes, this Koi does look every bit as good as the photo! She has a wonderful body type now as Nisai, with a graceful bodyline, that blends nicely into a strong tail tube. If you aren't careful with choosing Shiro Utsuri, the bodyline can often become too female looking, or have flat spots on the side of the Koi instead of a smooth curve. As you can see, this isn't an issue with this Koi. This Shiro Utsuri has beautiful thick white skin, and Sumi that holds great promise for the future. One thing that I think is of paramount importance with Shiro Utsuri, is to have white ground that is completely free of any scattered scales of Sumi, and in this Kois case, it is simply perfection! Add to this, the beautifully balanced Motoguro, which is very refined, whilst leaving the first ray free of Sumi, and what we have is a Koi which I think is simply sublime! No pressure on Michael, but I hope that she becomes good enough and big enough to feature on our Gallery pages in the next year or two...

Michael's prize, is a Koi or goods up to the value of the £550 original purchase price of this Koi.

As for our 'Unlimted' class... the winner will be decided in the next few days, but at present, it is a close call between four Koi. More on this later...

Another good day today... Tom C won Mature Champion at the Worthing Koi Show today with a Yamatoya Sanke that we bought as Nisai, and grew here to Yonsai. Tom then took her home, and grew her to the 80cm that she is today. I will try to get an up to date photo...

Congratulations Tom!