Expect the Unexpected

There have been some amazing success stories to come from this list over the past 10 years headed by I Am Invincible, now Australia’s most expensive sire, and Northern Meteor, who has founded a sire dynasty through his high class sons Zoustar and Deep Field, both of whom have sons of their own at stud this season.

You need to go all the way back to 2012 to find a winner bred outside of Australia, which probably says something about Aussie bred and raced sires having an edge over their shuttle peers in terms of delivering volume of two year-old winners.

One of the most interesting years on this list is 2011, which on face value appeared to be a very average vintage with four stallions tying on eight winners and none of them going on to achieve lasting commercial success.

Lurking below them on just five winners was Written Tycoon, who did win Champion First Season Sire by earnings that year with a paltry total of $644,700.

The years since then have been productive ones for Written Tycoon who has soared past all his rivals of that year to now be a leading sire standing at Arrowfield Stud this spring.

The Champion Sire of Victoria when standing at Woodside Park previously, he is set to cover a full book at a fee of $77,000 in the Hunter Valley this year.

The end of a stallion's first season of runners is but the start of what can be a very long and winding road!