Nostradamus comes to the farm as an extremely well-credentialed first season
stallion and will stand for the "must-use" price of $8800."We have agonised over his first season price. There is no doubt he deserves to stand for plenty more, but we look at this as a real opportunity for local Victorian breeders to make a no-brainer call and at least send one mare" said Rosemont's Anthony Mithen.
A $500,000 yearling son of the white-hot Medaglia D'Oro, half brother to young gun stallion Star Witness and multiple Group winner with explosive speed, Nostradamus will be one of few stand-out first season stallions in Victoria this season.
"The pleasing thing about this horse is that he has strong 2yo form - he was actually Golden Slipper favourite after his Flemington win on debut - and trained on to win Group races and 3 and 4 so breeders can have confidence they are breeding with a tough, unbelievably good looking, speed horse," Mithen said.
With some of Victoria's best breeding farms securing breeding rights in the horse including Musk Creek, Lauriston, Two Bays, Rushton Park and Glentree, the horse is assured a great start to his career in the breeding barn.
"He will get awesome support. It should really set him up to be a chance to mirror horses like I Am Invincible, Not a Single Doubt and Written Tycoon. None of those horses won G1s but have returned great dividends to breeders and been superbly successful at stud. Pedigree takes you a long way in this game and he is just about the best bred horse anywhere in Australia going to stud this year."
A decision on whether Nostradamus tackles the Stradbroke will be made next week after his brave performance in the Goodwood where he drew the widest barrier.
Rosemont have also announced fees for the emerging young stallion and multiple G1 winner Toorak Toff. He will stand at $8800 on the back of some encouraging performances from his first crop 2yos.
"He hasn't yet had 10 runners but he has had a winner and place getters in 100k and 70k races and there isn't a trainer with one that isn't excited about what the progeny will do at 3," Mithen said. His second crop yearlings sold up to 95k which is a substantial return for breeders off this year's fee of $8800.
Starcraft will once again be based at Rosemont and a price drop to $6600 should see the five-time G1 winner be extremely busy.
"He is priced at the breed to race market, but his commercial returns are staggering. And no wonder given he churns out winner after winner. Barely a day goes by without a Starcraft winning somewhere.
"He had the sale topper in Hong Kong at their recent yearly sale at $1.5million and sold multiple yearlings for $130,000 in the domestic market. You could breed a mare with your eyes shut and make money at this price. We will once again be supporting him with some lovely farm-owned mares," Mithen said.
