Hi Richard, thanks for sharing the photo.....
A coupla thoughts on your koi....the white is a nice bone china look and the black is incredibly inky.
I'm seeing marusome ( rounded full color scales in black and red) and that kinda surprises me.
Sakai-san who has now stabilized the condition and has been breeding it that way for several years is rightfully proud of the accomplishment. I'd be half tempted to get a female of his that's 3 or younger and mix it in with your male.
At his seminar this spring he taught with his bloodline , marusome will form
on the sumi and beni closest to the belly and starting back by the tail and as the koi ages the condition advances, moving forward and up till all the koi is that way. males he said from 3-5 yrs and females 5-8 to complete. naturally the longer it takes the better.
Mike, the beni has a scale of sashi, so there's depth there and on the head the beni is real clean edged both for and aft of the first pattern. Sakai-san did say that with HIS bloodline koi, a quick development of marusome was not a good sign as far as beni development was concerned. I only mention that in passing as conversation for those who missed the seminar.
I think time will tell with Richard's koi. But I definetely think it is a koi to hang on to another year to see what develops. I'm really impressed with what Richard has accomplished with his breeding program in such a "relatively" short time. I think it's about time we give some credit to some hard working domestic breeders that have a dream and are actively working it!
