Stakes Results Highlight Quality

As the Australian racing season draws to a close it's worth a look at the leading sires by stakes-winners list as while runaway record breaking leader I Am Invincible is the obvious pace-setter, further down the list are some value stallions that have had their worth highlighted over the past 12 months.

Yarraman Park's I Am Invincible is fully booked this year at a fee of $247,500 and is head and shoulders above his rivals in the category of seasonal stakes-winners, but it might come as a surprise to some to see Arrowfield Stud's Not a Single Doubt ahead of his barn mate Snitzel with his 14 stakes-winners of 22 stakes races superior to Snitzel's 12 stakes-winners of just 13 stakes races.

All of the progeny to race for Not a Single Doubt so far have been conceived at a fee of $33,000 or less making the achievement all the more remarkable. His fee for this year is set at $110,000.

Not a Single Doubt was only a Listed winner as a racehorse which explains why Arrowfield Stud have continued to roll the dice with well bred sons of Redoute's Choice that have not won Group I races in the hope of unearthing another prospect just like him.

Ill-fated Beneteau fit the profile and undoubtedly would now be a leading sire if he had not died after just two seasons at stud. For the record Beneteau has a 9.3% stakes-winners to runners strike rate, his 10 stakes-winners including two Group I winners in Lasqueti Spirit and Prompt Response. Those two crops that have delivered these impressive stats were conceived from a fee of $11,000.

Arrowfield now have their hopes for a second Not a Single Doubt pinned on Scissor Kick, who has his first runners next season and Pariah, who is lining up for his second season at stud.

Twin Hills Stud at Cootamundra stand two of the stallions on the list featuring four or more stakes-winners in Smart Missile with eight and Denman with four. Both horses have relocated from the Hunter Valley and stand at fees of $22,000 and $8,800 representing real value for breeders looking outside of the Hunter.

A new wave of younger stallions have really made their mark as sources of stakes-winners with Zoustar (Widden) and Epaulette (Darley) leading the way on six stakes-winners each followed by Spirit of Boom (Eureka Stud) , Dundeel (Arrowfield) and Fiorente (IRE) (Sun Stud) on four stakes-winners each.

Representing a mix of sirelines and producing a variety of progeny that have excelled over a range of distances, these young sires are the future of our breeding industry.

One of the more interesting stallions on the list is WA based Universal Ruler, who looks capable of filling the gap left by his outstanding sire Scenic (IRE), who died in 2005.

A Group III winning sprinter, Universal Ruler retired to Scenic Lodge Thoroughbreds at a modest fee of $5,500. His first crop produced the very good sprinter Rebel King, who has won over $800,000 in prizemoney and his emergence resulted in Universal Ruler covering a big book of 127 mares in 2014.

Now three year-olds, that crop has produced four stakes-winners including Group III winner Lady Cosmology and Universal Ruler now has a 5% stakes-winners to runners strike rate.

Priced at $6,600 this year, Universal Ruler looks a great value option for breeders in the west.

Below is the list of all sires with four or more stakes-winners this season.