An email from one of our readers highlighted an issue that is faced by breeders on a smaller budget - The NSW stallion roster seems to have a very limited offering for breeding to race breeders. Qld, Vic, SA all have stallions with much more variety and realistic service fees for the breeding to race breeders.
The reality is that breeding in New South Wales is dominated by the big commercial studs and in the Hunter Valley, the focus is very much on the top end of the market. Plenty of very nice bread and butter stallions find themselves punted from the region to continue their careers elsewhere to make way for the next wave of new sires coming through, who are invariably quite expensive.
As a comparison, Victoria has 82 stallions standing for less than $10,000 and a further 26 standing for less than $25,000.
New South Wales has 49 standing for less than $10,000 and a further 39 for less than $25,000.
Queensland has 47 stallions standing for less than $10,000 and a further eight standing for less than $25,000.
The figures above are taken from the Arion stallion register and indicate our reader has a point.
If you want to breed to a stallion in New South Wales and go to a proven sire and be spending less than $10,000, your choices will be quite limited but do highlight a couple of horses that will give you a great shot at breeding that all important winner that could easily be a stakes horse.
Vinery Stud have Casino Prince priced at $6,600 this year which is amazingly good value for a stallion that produces 69% winners to runners and has sired 17 stakes-winners including a new Group III winner in the Candy Man last Saturday.
He's not trendy, but this Group I winning son of Flying Spur is affordable and does the job effectively producing a champion in All Too Hard when mated to blue hen Helsinge, the dam of Black Caviar.
Former Darley sire Denman has had a location switch to Twin Hills Stud down at Cootamundra and while he's unlikely to hit a purple patch quite like Smart Missile did after leaving Arrowfield for Twin Hills last year, he does represent value at his fee this year of $8,800 and is importantly Danehill free.
A Group I winning son of Lonhro from the family of this year's Golden Slipper winner Kiamichi, Denman has 66% winners to runners and 15 stakes-winners.
Charge Forward (Murrulla Thoroughbreds, $8,000) and Dane Shadow (Kichwin Hills, $6,600) are both getting on in years, but can't be discounted when you have limited funds and are looking for a proven product.
Of the unproven sires in NSW priced below $10,000, several stand out to my eye as having some potential to deliver a good result for a budget conscious owner breeder.
Widden Stud have blue-blooded Exceed and Excel stallion Outreach on the roster at $7,700 and he's been popular with breeders covering 407 mares in his first three seasons at this fee and will have his first runners in the new season.
He had just one start finishing second to Vancouver in the Group III ATC Canonbury Stakes before breaking down and is a full brother to Golden Slipper winner Overreach and three-quarter brother-in-blood to successful Victorian sire Reward for Effort.
It's hard to think this horse would not have been a stakes-winner or even a Group I winner had he raced on and given his pedigree you can see why Widden were happy to give him a chance.
The next 12 months will tell the tale for him as he's bred to get two year-old winners, but if Outreach does kick a goal this will be the last year you ever get in at $7,700.
Widden also offer dual Group I winner Stratum Star at a slightly reduced fee this year of $9,900 down from $11,000. He was a tough, sound and very trainable racehorse that won his Group I races at 1400 and 1800 metres.
He traces in tail female line to the great champion Emancipation and I'd like to think his rich chestnut coat is a little throwback to the great Star Kingdom as he does carry four lines of the legendary sire in his first five removes, two through Bletchingly and two through Kaoru Star.
Kingstar Farm have plenty of faith in their Fastnet Rock stallion Bull Point, who was a Magic Millions sale-topper and Group III winner on the track.
He comes from a peerless Black Type family that has produced $7million earner Criterion and a host of stakes-winners including his close relation Comin' Through, another Group I winner by Fastnet Rock.
Fastnet Rock is well exposed now as a successful sire of sires and it's hard not to think Bull Point won't be able to produce some useful horses as his career unfolds and his yearlings did make a few people sit up and take notice this year selling for as much as $110,000.
He's priced at $7,700 which looks pretty reasonable when you consider Aquis are launching his full brother Siege of Quebec in Victoria this year at a fee of $13,200.
