Hi Chris,
You are correct. All three colors are preferred to be on the head, and if all else was equal between two showa, one with equal colors on the head and one without, the more equal one would win. In this case, the size and overall koi beat the other showa. We almost put the second showa as reserve, but the sanke was more finished in body, but pattern not quite as balanced. The other thing the smaller, "more equal" showa had going for it I alluded to earlier. The sumi quality. It was significantly better, even though both were solid in color. The thing that knocked it out in the final analysis though, was the pec fin. Slightly uneven in the leading ray. I think the picture shows it, but looking at it live, it was a
little more obvious than that. So we had two other koi, nicely finished, with all the conformation points, and this slightly smaller, better quality showa with the pec fin "problem". As you probably know, the larger the koi above 18" or so, the more conformation often counts. Not just size, but
all the parts of conformation. If it had the same body, it could be argued that it deserved GC, even with the pec fin. And in one more year in this Don Robb's pond, it will have it. The koi on the day with the most complete package was the Showa that won.
Savannah, the weather was great.. 75-80F. A bit breezy in the morning, so a jacket would have been nice.