When service fees were set last year there was great optimism surrounding the prospects of the young guns whose oldest progeny were two year-olds with Deep Field, Rubick, Brazen Beau, Better than Ready and Toronado (IRE) all given significant service fee increases, so we thought it was worth taking a look at how they measure up 12 months on.
Below is a table showing their service fees and mare numbers in the past two seasons.
|
Stallion (sire) |
Farm |
2018 Fee and book |
2019 Fee and book |
|
Brazen Beau (I Am Invincible) |
Darley Victoria, Vic |
$38,500 and 92 |
$49,500 and 127 |
|
Deep Field (Northern Meteor) |
Newgate Farm, NSW |
$22,000 and 246 |
$44,000 and 256 |
|
Rubick (Encosta de Lago) |
Coolmore, NSW |
$17,600 and 263 |
$38,500 and 262 |
|
Better than Ready (More Than Ready (USA) |
Lyndhurst Stud, Qld |
$9,900 and 236 |
$33,000 and 216 |
|
Toronado (IRE) (High Chaparral |
Swettenham Stud, Vic |
$22,000 and 167 |
$27,500 and 197 |
All five have been doing good things this season, but none have really emerged as a clear leader of the pack.
Below is a list of all second crop sires with seasonal progeny earnings of more than $1million.
Rubick is the leader by earnings with 34 winners of $9.8 million, a sum considerably bolstered by the Everest win of his star three year-old colt Yes Yes Yes, who collected some $6.6 million for that victory alone.
Rubick, however, is far from being a one trick pony as he also has the very good Group II winning filly Rubisaki flying his flag and another stakes-winner in Condo’s Express.
Deep Field is a commanding leader by winners with 60 winners from 122 runners giving him a great strike rate of some 49% winners to runners. Those winners include three stakes-winners in Group II winner Cosmic Force, Group I placed stakes-winner Xilong and Riddle Me That.
Brazen Beau is the leader of the group by stakes-winners with five this season headed by Group winners Pretty Brazen, Colada and Sartorial Splendour.
While he has yet to produce a stakes-winner this season, Better Than Ready has been churning out the winners with his tally of 46 second to only Deep Field and coming at a rate of 44% winners to runners.
Toronado has also been super busy on the score of delivering winners with his 36 including a multiple stakes-winner in Still a Star and three other stakes-placed horses.
While none of the five young sires deemed by the marketplace as most likely to succeed have sired Group I winners this season, two of their less fancied peers have managed the feat in Adelaide (IRE) and Hallowed Crown.
Cox Plate winner Adelaide stands at Coolmore and has been steady the last three seasons covering over 100 mares in each of those years at a fee of $11,000 after starting off in 2015 at a fee of $22,000.
A top class son of champion sire Galileo, he’s had 40% winners to runners with 12 individual winners highlighted by his cracking filly Funstar, who won the Group I ATC Flight Stakes and two more Group II races as well as finishing a brave second last Saturday against the older mares in the Group I ATC Coolmore Legacy.
Darley’s Hallowed Crown is a dual Group I winner by Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense (USA) and started off in 2015 at a fee of $33,000. His popularity waned considerably in following years with his fee dropping to $11,000 last year when he covered just 46 mares prompting the decision to relocate him.
Set to stand at Twin Hills Stud this year, Hallowed Crown has pulled together some really encouraging results as we have moved through this year with 18 winners from 30 runners giving him 60% winners to runners with his best horse the Group I ATC Australian Oaks winner Colette.
Footnote: While Rubick does not have a Group I winner on paper, it could be argued that Yes Yes Yes is morally a Group I winner in all but name after his track record breaking win in The Everest which featured all the big gun sprinters that again showed their dominance in the Group I ATC TJ Smith Stakes last Saturday.
