A Closer Look at Replacing Like with Like

Tara Madgwick - Friday May 29

Our 'Closer Look’ statistical sire stories have been a huge hit with our audience and this week we’re looking at two outstanding stallions.

When Arrowfield Stud announced the retirement of Not a Single Doubt earlier in the year they were faced with a big gap in their roster, but have found a horse to fill it that is in many ways similar to the horse he’s replacing, albeit with very different bloodlines.

Woodside Park’s champion Victorian sire Written Tycoon is a year younger than Not a Single Doubt and like him has had to earn his success the hard way as you can see in the table below.

Written Tycoon stands at a fee of $77,000

His first Group I winners Tycoon Tara and Music Magnate came from his third and fourth crops conceived at a fee of just $6,600 and that’s not easy to do.

Given a modest fee increase and some better mares, Written Tycoon has produced six more Group I winners in following crops, but none conceived at a fee higher than $15,400, which is remarkable stuff!

It was not until Capitalist won the 2016 Golden Slipper that Written Tycoon was really taken seriously by elite breeders and his current season two year-olds are the first bred from a big fee.

Written Tycoon (Foaled 2002)
 

Crop Year (SH)

Mares Covered / Service Fee

Stakes-Winners/ Best Performers

2008

118/ $8,250

4 SW’s  / G2 Howmuchdoyouloveme, G3 Trump

2009

87/ $8,250

1 SW / Danger Close

2010

118/ $6,600

3 SW’s / G1 Tycoon Tara

2011

198/ $6,600

5 SW’s / G1 Music Magnate, G2 Rich Enuff

2012

152/ $11,000

3SW’s / G2 Super Cash

2013

107/ $15,400

6 SW’s / G1 Capitalist, La Luna Rossa, G2 Winning Rupert

2014

138/ $13,750

6 SW’s / G1 Booker, Despatch

2015

177/ $13,750

2 SW’s / G1 Written By, Pippie

2016

183/ $19,800

3 SW’s / G3 Hightail

2017

226/ $49,500

1 SW / Ole Kirk

2018

168/ $88,000

Yearlings

2019

162/ $110,000

Foals

2020

136/ $110,000

Yet to be born


Not a Single Doubt is one of those horses that spent most of his stud career being underestimated, which is hardly surprising given the illustrious company he was keeping at Arrowfield.

Not a Single Doubt was pensioned earlier this year

A speedy, but average Listed winner, whose big claim to fame was running second to Dance Hero in a Magic Millions 2YO Classic, Not a Single Doubt had nothing in his race record to suggest he would go on to sire 14 Group I winners (to date) at distances ranging from 1100 to 2500m.

He is by champion sire Redoute’s Choice from the female family of Snippets, so two big pluses there, but not enough to warrant a fee of any more than $13,750 in his first six years at stud and nothing more than $33,000 in the five years after.

While other high profile horses have come and gone on the Arrowfield roster, Not a Single Doubt has remained and flourished giving hope to every studmaster in the country standing a well bred colt whose race record may be less than stellar.

While champion racehorses frequently produce offspring nowhere near as good as them, Not a Single Doubt has consistently produced horses a lot better than he was and that’s a bit of genetic magic!

Not a Single Doubt (Foaled 2001)

Crop Year (SH)

Mares Covered / Service Fee

Stakes-Winners/ Best Performers

2006

128/ $13,750

2 SW’s / G3 Doubtful Jack

2007

93/ $13,750

5 SW’s / G3 Squamosa

2008

109/ $13,750

3 SW’s / G3 Karuta Queen

2009

161/ $13,750

5 SW’s / Doubtfilly

2010

148/ $13,750

6 SW’s / G1 Miracles of Life, G2 Villa Verde Gypsy Diamond

2011

192/ $13,750

5 SW’s / G1 Clearly Innocent, Good Project, G2 Fell Swoop

2012

180/ $24,750

10 SW’s / G1 Scales of Justice, Single Gaze, Secret Agenda, Southern Legend

2013

105/ $24,750

9 SW’s / G1 Kenedna, Extreme Choice, Samadoubt

2014

134/ $33,000

12 SW’s / G1 Mighty Boss, G2 Champagne Cuddles

2015

111/ $33,000

7 SW’s / G1 Qafila, G2 Classique Legend

2016

140/ $33,000

4 SW’s / G1 Shout the Bar, G2 Dubious

2017

126/ $71,500

3 SW’s / G1 Farnan

2018

146/ $88,000

Yearlings

2019

94/ $99,000

Foals

2020

94/ $110,000

Yet to be born

 
 
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