Recent losses of leading stallions Redoute’s Choice and Sebring and the non-return of top shuttler More Than Ready have left room at the top of the NSW stallion brigade but at time of writing we know of at least 13 exciting newcomers with the credentials to become worthy replacements in years to come.
Arrowfield Stud, built over the past 20 years around the enormous success of the great Redoute’s Choice, is fortunate to have a ready made replacement in his latest star, The Autumn Sun, this season’s champion three-year-old in Australia and winner of five Group 1 races from 1400m to 2000m for earnings of $3.4 million.
In his brief nine start career, The Autumn Sun suffered only one defeat, a very unlucky one, and he has behind him a strong female pedigree being out of an Aga Khan-bred Galileo mare who is a half-sister to European champion and successful sire Azamour.Virtually already booked full, The Autumn Sun is to stand at a fee of $77,000.
Breeders looking for other new sires at more affordable fees would do well to consider two other horses being introduced at Arrowfield in 2019, superbly related Japanese performer Real Steel (Deep Impact) standing for $16,500 and speedy Australian stakes winner Showtime (Snitzel) whose fee is only $11,000.
Group 1 winner of the Dubai Turf and also a stakes winner in Japan, Real Steel is not only by Japan’s champion sire Deep Impact (Sunday Silence) but also boasts a superb female pedigree being out of the excellent winner producer Loves Only Me, by Storm Cat from a Mr. Prospector mare who is a sister to leading international sire Kingmambo, their dam French champion Miesque (Nureyev).
Showtime, a handsome son of dual champion sire Snitzel, also mixes galloping talent with an attractive female pedigree.
A Group 2 winner at 1400m and twice placed at Group 1 level, Showtime is a brother to Group 1 winner Sweet Idea from Flidais, by Timber Country from Group 1 winner Electronic.
New at Widden
Historic Widden Stud, former home of Sebring, has added two exciting prospects to its roster of stallions for 2019 in champion Trapeze Artist (Snitzel) and top juvenile Written By (Written Tycoon).
A big, powerful individual, Trapeze Artist was Australia’s champion three-year-old colt of 2017/18 and retires as winner of more than $5.5 million, his seven wins including four Group 1s – the ATC T.J. Smith Stakes (1200m), the Golden Rose Stakes (1400m), the All-Aged Stakes (1400m) and the Canterbury Stakes (1300m).
Trapeze Artist is also a horse with a deep female pedigree going back through Golden Slipper winner Fairy Walk (Minor Portion) to a sister to the mighty Phar Lap.His fee has been set at $99,000.
Written By, who is standing at a fee of $24,750, raced only 11 times over two seasons for six wins and a second to earn $1,808,700.His greatest triumph came in last year’s MRC Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m) and he has another two black type events to his credit.He comes from the family of Group 1 winner and leading New Zealand sire Pins.
Darley’s newcomers
Godolphin and its Darley sires have had exceptional success this season and the two new stallions it has added to the impressive roster at Kelvinside, Aberdeen, should help maintain the momentum.
One is the eye-taking Kementari (Lonhro) and the other is champion European sprinter Harry Angel (Dark Angel) whose outcross pedigree should appeal to many local breeders.
Kementari, standing for a $33,000 fee, won the ATC Randwick Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m), beating Pierata and Trapeze Artist, the Hobartville Stakes (Gr. 2, 1400m) and the Eskimo Prince Stakes (Gr. 3, 1200m), possessed a great turn of foot and was unlucky not to win more feature races.He is out of a Redoute’s Choice mare from a top female line.
Harry Angel, by top European speed sire Dark Angel, showed his peak form in 2017 when he won Britain’s two most coveted 1200m events, the Newmarket July Cup and the Sprint Cup, both Group 1s.These performances led Timeform to give him the very high rating of 132.
Justify heads Coolmore’s new sires
Coolmore Australia has what will probably be the most expensive of the new sires retiring in NSW for the 2019 season in unbeaten 2018 US Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy) whose fee is advertised as private.
Standing 16.3 hands, the physically impressive Justify stands in Kentucky for $US 150,000 and was never beaten in his six starts, all at three years, going from a Santa Anita Derby win to then sweep the Triple Crown of Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes over distances ranging from 1900m to 2400m.
Linebred to both Mr. Prospector and Nijinsky, Justify comes from a successful American family and in NSW he is sure to receive a capacity book of elite mares.
Also going to Coolmore’s magnificent Hunter Valley farm for the first time in 2019 are two other much less expensive stallions but also with very strong racing and pedigree credentials, Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact) and Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy).
An unbeaten Group 1 winner in the UK at two years, Saxon Warrior won the 2018 Two Thousand Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) as an early three-year-old and he continued to show top form in Group 1 company for the rest of the season before suffering a tendon injury which ended his track career.By the great Japanese racehorse and sire Deep Impact, Saxon Warrior is out of unbeaten champion European juvenile filly Maybe (Galileo) while his second dam, Listed winner Sumora, is a daughter of Danehill.
Mendelssohn, a $US 3 million yearling, had a sensational racing career, winning the Group 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (1600m) in the United States, was runner up in the Dewhurst Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m) in Britain at two years then at three years trotted in by 18.5 lengths in the UAE Derby (1900m) in course record time before returning to the United States to place in two Grade 1 events so he acted on both dirt and turf.
Saxon Warrior is advertised at a fee of $24,750 while Mendelssohn is standing at $17,600.
New Aquis stallions at Emirates Park
Fast developing operation Aquis with its NSW base at Emirates Park, Murrurundi, is launching the stud careers of two interesting stallions, Japanese-bred Brave Smash (Tosen Phantom) and Santos (I Am Invincible).
Earner of more than $3.5 million in Australia and Japan, Brave Smash is from the Sunday Silence sire line and he scored two notable Group 1 sprint victories in Melbourne last year in the MVRC Manikato Stakes (1200m) and in the MRC Futurity Stakes (1400m).He offers a valuable outcross for most local mares at a fee of $22,000.
Santos, on the other hand, is a stakes winning two-year-old (ATC Skyline Stakes, Gr. 2, 1200m) son of Australian stud sensation I Am Invincible, Australia’s highest priced stallion this season .From a quality female line, Santos is advertised at a fee of $16,500.
Group 1 winner Pierata (Pierro) may also be standing at Aquis/Emirates Park as a deal is pending at time of writing.
Prized Icon at Kooringal
Outstanding value for such a well bred and performed horse is Kooringal Stud, Wagga Wagga’s new sire Prized Icon who will stand for just $11,000.
This $2 million earner by international stallion star More Than Ready showed outstanding form as an autumn two-year-old in Sydney with successive wins in the ATC Fernhill Handicap (Listed, 1600m) and the ATC Champagne Stakes (Gr. 1, 1600m) then as a spring three-year-old he captured the VRC Victoria Derby (Gr. 1) over 2500m although his beautifully bred dam Tropical Affair (Danehill –Just as Lovely, by Bletchingly) is bred for speed.
If Prized Icon can pass on his quality, versatility and durability he should make his mark as a sire.
Article | Les Young for Thoroughbred Breeders NSW
