Enigma of Shiro Utsuri Part 2

Out of 500 pcs of Musashi Shiro Utsuri offsprings brought in by SPKC in 2006, I have picked roughly about 100 pcs from that batch. This shiro is the fastest growing shiro out of 100 pcs I purchased. At the age of two, it measured about 58cm and at the point of writing(April,2008), it measures about 75cm at the age of 3 yrs old. The growth rate is unbelievable for a shiro utsuri, mainly due to the Musashi bloodline that has a very long and thick body.
In photo A, the sumi of this fish is pretty well-developed with nice menware that looks like it might join with the kuchi zumi(black lips) but somehow that never happened. The black on this shiro faded instead of having more developing sumi as seen in photo B. This is an indication that the fish is still young and the black is still unstable and I am quite certain that the black will reemerge when the fish becomes more mature.The motoguro have also disappeared to my amazement. I had a chat with Omosako's eldest son, Takayoshi Omosako, he told me that in order to justify whether the sumi quality of the shiro is good or not, look at the existing black on the gill cover. If there is strong black on the gill cover, the sumi on the body will most likely appear to be good at a later age. This is just one possible way to determine the sumi development and nothing is CERTAIN. Even the breeder himself cannot be sure whether the fish will develop well or become a champion fish but of course with their experience and sharp eyes as well as careful/in-depth observations of their parents koi (bloodline) and the characteristic of the offsprings, they can most likely pick the better pieces as their tategoi.The shiro shown above will most likely touch 80cm by the end of this year(2008)if given the right conditions that favour the development of this fish. Perhaps, I will post photo C later just to show you the development of the fish on the same post.