We know which sires averaged well and those that produced the million dollar horses and now we’re going to take a look at the sires that were the most profitable for their supporters and we look at them two ways, by multiple of service fee and straight profit.
Sires by Multiple of Fee
The table above is sorted by multiple of fee and traditionally highlights the horses off a lesser fee that have done well and can shine the spotlight on a champion sire that has come from a lower base. At the start of his career, I Am Invincible topped this table for years and this year we see New Zealand’s champion sire Proisir at the top of it for the very same reasons.
Rich Hill Stud’s Proisir had four of five yearlings sold for up to $450,000 and at Karaka Books 1 and 2 there are 38 of his yearlings to be offered and for the record Proisir now stands at a fee of $70,000.
Newgate Farm’s bargain priced sire Tassort did well at this sale last year with four yearlings averaging $152,500, which was encouraging and then they’ve come out running, so he’s done well again with six of seven sold for up to $350,000.
The buzz about Tassort started early in the spring and continued right through the breeding season and as a result he covered 231 mares at his $11,000 fee, up from 132 the previous year. He won’t be priced at $11,000 again.
Kingstar Farm’s Time to Reign had his first yearlings sell and for a $9,900 stallion he shot the lights out with three offered and sold at an average $160,000 and sold for up to $250,000. He covered 54 mares last spring, but is likely to find himself more popular this year.
Yulong’s Alabama Express is an interesting one on the list given he’s a Group I winning son of Redoute’s Choice with a serious pedigree that has started off with some very exciting two year olds, think Shangri La Express and Karavas. He had hardly any yearlings at this sale, but the three offered were all sold at an average $273,333 for up to $400,000, his average well up on 2023 average of $207,778. The mother lode of his yearlings will be offered at Inglis Premier and that’s going to be a big drawcard for that sale.
Sires by Profit
The table above is sorted by straight profit and traditionally shows the champion sires are worth the service fees they command and at the top is Coolmore shuttler Justify (USA), who has taken the racing and bloodstock world by storm in the past year with six Group I winners and here in Australia he has the unbeaten Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Storm Boy.
When Justify arrived back at Coolmore for his third season it was only the true believers that were on board and he covered 82 mares which was down from 148 and 142 in his first two seasons here. The jury was well and truly out, so he did not return for a fourth season in 2022 so there will be no Justify yearlings at sales next year.
When Learning to Fly came out and did what she did, the love returned for Justify and he came back last spring covering 187 mares at a fee of $77,000, which in hindsight looks a bargain given his international exploits.
Yarraman Park’s I Am Invincible is the most expensive sire in the country in terms of fee and is also the best bet of getting a million dollar yearling and consistently high sale ring return. His fee rose to $302,500 last spring and he covered 146 mares.
If you were wondering about Extreme Choice, he does not appear in any of these tables as his fee for 2021 was listed as fee on application.