A homebred for Darley, Sepoy dazzled on the racetrack as a brilliant two and three year-old recording Group I wins in the Group I ATC Golden Slipper, MRC Blue Diamond Stakes, VRC Coolmore Stud Stakes and MVRC Manikato Stakes.
Kicking off his stud career at a fee of $66,000, the powerhouse chestnut son of Elusive Quality (USA) was well patronized by outside breeders and the results of that have been seen in the sale ring this year.
Sepoy finished as the leading freshman sire at Easter with 11 yearlings averaging $379,091, headed by a spectacular colt from Ancient Song that made $1.6 million for Turangga Farm.
His efforts mirror the success he achieved earlier this year at Magic Millions where he was also leading freshman sire with 26 yearlings averaging $286,346 and a top selling colt from Sister Madly that made $1.2 million.
His figures are even more impressive given he has not been supported in the sale ring by Darley, who have been absent from buying benches around Australia this year.
Sepoy has done this all himself with the help of some very astute breeders that have sent him a bevy of top class mares and reaped the rewards.
The next hurdle for Sepoy to jump will be on the racetrack and the verdict there will be in by this time next year as his stock look like two year-olds and if they don't come out running it will be a shock to all.
Newgate Farm's Foxwedge stood for half the fee of Sepoy as is fitting if you compare their race records, but he's been more than been competitive in the sale ring, albeit at a rung below the Golden Slipper winner.
His best horses were reserved for Inglis Easter and met with keen support, appealing not only to domestic buyers but also to international investors such as BBA Ireland, Shadwell Australia and China Horse Club.
He too has a profile that would suggest the ability to sire two year-olds, so the good looking son of Fastnet Rock may well continue his rivalry with Sepoy into the new season when results on the track will outweigh results in the ring.
Arrowfield Stud's Smart Missile has been super popular at sales this year off his $22,000 fee and while this talented son of Fastnet Rock never won a Group I race, yearling buyers seem happy to overlook that fact when presented with the great types he's throwing.
He was the only horse to defeat Sepoy at two, and that counts for a lot in the minds of buyers.
Foxwedge and Smart Missile are both sons of champion sire Fastnet Rock, who was the leading sire by average at Inglis Easter this year with 47 yearlings averaging $476,809.
His results are interesting given that his fillies outsold his colts by quite a margin this year at Inglis Easter (colts averaged $410,000 as opposed to fillies at $552,727), reversing the trend of past years when his colts have been in red hot demand topping the majority of yearling sales and outselling his fillies.
To some extent the market may have had its fill of million dollar Fastnet Rock colts bought as 'sire prospects' that have ended up falling short of the required standard to warrant a commercial career at stud.
Add to that the spectre of the less than successful Fastnet Rock sire son Wanted (he was an expensive Easter yearling that won a Newmarket) in the background and you can see why the really top dollar for a Fastnet Rock colt just might not be there quite like it was.
That said, if Foxwedge and Smart Missile kick the big goal it's going to be onwards and upwards for Fastnet Rock, but if they do not he will find himself consigned to the same box Encosta de Lago inhabited before Northern Meteor came along to make his name as a sire of sires.
He'll still be a champion sire on the track and in the ring, but the big players in the market will be looking for what they see as the next big sire of sires, which is where the really big pay days are found.
10 time Group I winner So You Think is a horse we would all like to see succeed at stud, but the harsh reality is that in a country where the vast majority of yearling buyers are looking for precocity and speed in a yearling, they probably aren't going to see that in his stock.
He had some lovely yearlings headed by a stunning half-brother to Cosmic Endeavour that made $500,000 for Southern Cross Breeders as agent for renowned breeder Catherine Remond, but when viewed next to a line of Sepoy yearlings they are very different creatures…. as they should be given the physique and profile of their sires.
While the verdict on sire success will be all but in at this time next year for the sires mentioned already, that won't be the case for So You Think who is likely to be only just warming up.
Emirates Park have taken a big punt on Dream Ahead (USA), a genuinely outstanding European sprinter from an outcross sireline that has struggled to gain traction in this part of the world in the past.
He's had mixed results in the sale ring this year and people's opinion on his stock seems to vary greatly depending on who you talk to.
Just who will be proven right remains to be seen, but if you've bought one and they are runners, then you'll be the genius!
Special mention should be made of Victorian based Toorak Toff, who had only two entries for this sale, both for Rosemont Stud, who stand the dual Group I winning son of Show a Heart.
One of them, the half-brother to South African Group I winner Alboran Sea, from Lady's Light (USA) sold for $300,000, which was his best sale this year.
2015 Easter Yearling Sale Session I |
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Sire |
Sold |
Aggregate |
Average |
Top Price |
Service Fee |
Sepoy |
11 |
4,170,000 |
379,091 |
1,600,000 |
66,000 |
Foxwedge |
16 |
3,560,000 |
222,500 |
560,000 |
33,000 |
Smart Missile |
14 |
2,440,000 |
174,286 |
425,000 |
22,000 |
So You Think |
24 |
4,085,000 |
170,208 |
500,000 |
66,000 |
Dream Ahead |
5 |
630,000 |
126,000 |
200,000 |
27,500 |