Breeders have already had their say on his desirability as a stallion, with his 226 covers in his first season at Newgate the second most of any of the freshman sires in 2018. That was backed up with his book of 223 in his second season.

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The market put further weight to that opinion when Russian Revolution was then the leading covering sire of the first-season representatives at the 2019 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.

The buzz has certainly not subsided since his first foals hit the ground last spring, with the evidence there that the son of Snitzel is making his mark on his progeny, both in looks and in quality.

Sledmere Stud hosts many of China Horse Club's best mares and given CHC's ownership stake in Russian Revolution, there are big numbers of his foals in Royston and Catriona Murphy's paddocks.

"We have got 23 of them on the farm which is a good sample to judge off. Normally, with first-season sires you get two or three on your farm and you get an impression of what you have, but with that amount, it gives you a great line on them," Royston Murphy told TDN AusNZ.

"We have been very impressed with them. He has shown you can send any style of mare to him and still he produces you a type. He stamps them really well. You know they are by him and they are good nice athletic types. Not all that big, but not small either, just the way you want them."

While there are a few similarities in the foals across the board, there is one characteristic in the Russian Revolutions which stands out for Murphy.

"Most distinctively you can see coming through is his head. He puts that lovely quality head into all of them. You can bring anyone into the paddock and once you show them one of them, they can pick the rest of them, which is great to see," he said.

"We have sent small mares and we have sent large mares and he seems to balance them all out. We’ve got a mare who had a small foal the year before and this year with him, she has had one of the bigger ones, which is good to see."

Consistency shines through for Mills

Victorian-based bloodstock agent Sheamus Mills has eight Russian Revolution foals across his client base, and he too, has been impressed by the consistency and quality.

"I've been really happy with the ones we have got. He has just stamped them very well," Mills said.

"They tend to be that dark bay, well-marked horses, with a little flash of white and very attractive. The colts are masculine, the fillies are feminine. Nice dark coats, good quality, good heads, good bone, and they walk well. There is a consistency there, and that's what has endeared me to him."

One of Mills' highlights from the Russian Revolution foals is the colt out of Suspicieuse (Fr) (Elusive City {USA}), which is bred by his clients at Chesapeake Thoroughbreds.

That makes him a half-brother to G2 Champagne Classic and G3 Breeders' Plate winner, and now Aquis stallion, Dubious, the son of Not A Single Doubt.

"He's a really good cut of a horse. He will probably be a Magic Millions horse or maybe Easter," Mills said.

"I sent a couple of mares with a bit of leg and some of those mares that might have suited Not A Single Doubt or Snitzel in the past to Russian Revolution. He's done a good job in getting that similar sort of style.

"In the Aussie market, it’s important they don’t look like they are going to take forever but in the same breath, they are not short legged, tubby, need to get up and go horses. They have definitely got enough scope and size to say they should grow."

None of the eight Mills are associated with are going to the weanling sales, with all of them set to be sold as yearlings in 2021.

"That's testimony to the horse and what he has produced so far that we are keen to carry everything that we have of him through to the yearling sales," he said.

Ready to test the market

With numbers on its side, Sledmere will test the market at the weanling sales, with four Russian Revolutions to sell at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale at Sydney next week and another five to go through the ring at the Magic Millions National Sale on the Gold Coast later in the month.

"We've got a good handful going through Sydney and another bunch of nice ones to the Coast. We are bringing a few to the market, a bit of a mix of everything, from first foals to older proven mares. We want to give people a chance to get a look at them and I'm expecting them to go quite well," Murphy said.

Rheinwood Pastoral will also present one of its two Russian Revolution foals for sale at the Gold Coast, with Lot 1089 out of Electric Charge (Charge Forward), the daughter of Listed winner and Group 1-placegetter Miss Bussell (Danzero).

"He's a November foal and we thought we’d take the chance to send him to Magic Millions," Rheinwood General Manager, Kirsty Willis, said. "While he is a little bit smaller, he has got a lovely shape, a beautiful balance and is a great mover."

The other Russian Revolution colt on Rheinwood is out of Cheyenne Sue (Zizou), who has already produced a stakes winner in Let Me Sleep On It (Manhattan Rain).

"They are both going along really, really nicely. The Cheyenne Sue colt, he just continues to improve. They have both got lovely bone, good attitude and they are very good walkers. They are very easy, no-nonsense weanlings and we couldn't be happier with them," Willis said.

"He's really stamped them. They are both very good looking with a bit of white on their heads with darker colour. If they look like the sire, then you’d think everybody would want one.

"On the strength of what nice foals they were, we sent both mares back to Russian Revolution the second season."

Sledmere Stud and its clients also sent several of its mares back to the Newgate stallion, including Catchulata (Charge Forward), the three-quarter sister to multiple Group 1 winner Response (Charge Forward), whose first foal is catalogued as Lot 145 at the Inglis Weanling Sale, and Cappadocia (Northern Meteor), whose Russian Revolution foal colt goes through the Magic Millions ring as Lot 1052 at the Gold Coast.

"Going on what we have already, there will be a lot of mares going back this year, so we will be well into them," Murphy said.

Watch: Russian Revolution x Miss Denni (NZ) (colt)

Breeding to race

Group 1-winning trainer Robert Heathcote has had a terrific run with the family of Funtantes (Easy Rocking), the three-time stakes-winning mare, who is out of the terrific producer Cantantes (Just Awesome).

On the advice of Glenlogan Park's Steve Morley, Heathcote and the other owners in Funtantes sent her to Russian Revolution in his first season and the resultant filly has already made an impression.

"By all reports, she's a very good foal. I make no secret, I train racehorses, I leave breeding to the experts," Heathcote said.

"The owners of Funtantes, we listen carefully to the advice of Steve Morley from Glenlogan Park and he has always advised us and steered us well and he rated Russian Revolution very highly, so we spent the $50,000 and we have got a nice horse.

"The sense is that she's more like her Mum. We always knew we were going to race the foal ourselves, so we have spent $50,000 to get a very nice horse. If Russian Revolution does what we hope, we might have kicked a big goal."

A 2021 impact?

Other breeders are very much anticipating the impact Russian Revolution will make when his first crop hits the yearling sales next year.

"Come the yearling sales, they are the sort of horses that are on everyone's lips," Willis said. "They are such nice quality horses and have good heads on them. They are well balanced too."

Murphy is even more enthused by the potential market reaction as Russian Revolution's first crop develop.

"I’d be very surprised if he doesn't finish the sale as the leading first-season sire. When people get to see what I have seen here, I think they’ll be very impressed," he said.

Victorian residents have been excluded by Racing NSW from attending the Inglis Sales series in Sydney, which includes the Easter Round 2, Scone Yearling and Australian Weanling Sale. Meanwhile ahead of the Magic Millions National Sales later this month, the Queensland government has confirmed Victorians will need to serve a 14-day period of quarantine before being allowed free movement in its state.

Magic Millions Managing Director, Barry Bowditch, said his staff had been in touch with its Victorian client base, both buyers and vendors, in the past 24 hours to clarify the situation.

"The whole COVID-19 restriction is a moving target and keeping up with it is a measure in itself. Our advice to buyers is that if they are looking to buy at the sales, they should ensure they are out of Victoria by the weekend," Bowditch said.

"As we understand it, if they didn’t come to Queensland immediately, they could spend the next two weeks in a safe area, and if they have proof of that, they will be able to enter the state after those two weeks.

"It's something we are gaining further clarity on and any clarity we get, we will be advising our clientele."

Sticky situation for Stonehouse

The Sydney situation has been a particularly complex one for Stonehouse Thoroughbreds' Ryan Arnel, who was intending to be active as a buyer, while the initial decision to move the Great Southern Sale to Sydney, something that was changed again on Tuesday, meant he had complications as a vendor of seven weanlings.

"We are now quite restricted to what we want to do. Originally, we were very open to go to all the weanling sales. We were selling through the Great Southern Sale and we were looking to possibly buy through the other two, at Sydney and the Gold Coast," he said.

"It is going to be very difficult to buy. I'm running my own business and farm, and it's pretty hard for me to just duck off and check out other weanlings on the farms themselves. It’s probably not going to happen to be honest."

Arnel said he wasn't keen to rely purely on others' judgment when it came to possible pinhook purchases. He is still trying to assess if he will be able to get to the Gold Coast Sale.

As a vendor, the last week has also been a logistical nightmare for a small operation like Stonehouse, which is based at Eddington, about 130 km north-west of Melbourne.

"We had seven weanlings to sell at the Great Southern Sale and that was switched to Sydney, and now it’s not. They will all now just go through to the yearling sales except for maybe one, which will go through the Gold Coast," he said.

"We've had to organise staff, accommodation for staff, transport for people and horses, all these logistical things. You get that right for one, and then it switches state, so you redo it again.

"There's no one person to blame. It’s not the sales companies' fault, it's not the vendors or the buyers, it’s just the scenario we are in, where nobody has ever seen a pandemic before so we are dealing with something that is brand new."

Ampulla could sit out sales

Bunyip-based Ampulla Lodge and owner Steve Jostlear have been regulars at the weanling sales for many years but he thinks the logistical issues may see him sit them out this year.

"I'm not sure, it might be a good year to have a year off," he said.

"To spend two weeks locked up in Queensland, we are really still working it out. I'm trying to look at a few horses around Victoria, but when we pinhook, we want to look at 600 just to get our 10-15 on our list. Without doing that, I don't know how we are going to go."

With no time to inspect the numbers of weanlings he would like, and having spent considerable time working and reworking logistics, Jostlear feels 2020 may be one that falls into the 'too hard basket'.

"A lot of the people are just hanging on to sell them as yearlings anyway," he said.

"It’s all up in the air and we are really lost in what we can do. It’s all been sprung on us in the last 24 hours. You feel like just throwing your hands up and saying 'It's all too hard, see ya next year!'"

Hedge planning Magics trip

Melbourne-based bloodstock agent Suman Hedge was one of the major buyers at the National Weanling Sale last year, spending nearly $900,000 across seven pinhooks.

While shut out of Sydney, he is still keen to get to the Gold Coast but is still working through the logistics of what that might look like.

"We are still awaiting absolute finalisation of what is required. We know that it is at least 14 days quarantine, whether that is in Sydney or in the Gold Coast itself, we will find that out shortly and get some surety on that one," he said.

"Fourteen days in Sydney would work for me, because that'd be easier, but if I have to go up earlier to the Gold Coast I would. It’s not ideal, but it's the same for most people and we just have to work around it as best we can."

Hedge has been on the front foot in terms of inspections ahead of the weanling sales and has seen many of the drafts from the Hunter Valley already. He says the ability to inspect horses in person is crucial for the weanling market.

"It’s particularly hard for the weanling market. For broodmares, certainly those which have been through sales before, the online market is pretty good for them. You don’t necessarily have to see them live, but with weanlings, I don’t know anyone that can buy with confidence without seeing them. There is just too much variance and it will be way too risky to buy them without seeing them."

While he has seen a few of the foals in the catalogue for the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale, which is due to be conducted next Wednesday and Thursday and will also facilitate online or telephone bidding, Hedge said it is unlikely he will be busy buying at that sale.

"There may be an opportunity to get involved with those horses we have seen, but we won't be getting involved with anything we haven't seen, so we are pretty much out of play," he said.

Bench still strong despite likely absentees

Bowditch said there have been a myriad of reactions from buyers and sellers in Victoria since it was confirmed that the Queensland quarantine regime would remain in place for Victorians after the border was effectively opened on Wednesday.

"The team have been in contact with quite a few clients down there and the reaction is mixed, obviously. Some will do whatever it takes to get to the sale and others are looking at other options, whether it be to use the advice of others who are attending the sale, or whatever works for them," he said.

He accepts that may mean fewer buyers at the National Sales but is still confident the market will be strong enough to sustain itself despite the absentees.

"You’d suggest (the depth of the buying bench) might drop off, but in saying that, the border being opened yesterday is a great relief to us," he said.

"The vendors are supporting the sale and we are getting a huge part of the market to sale. Victoria is important to us and there are enough of those who are willing to make the trip, so fingers crossed, the void is not too significant."

Whatever evolves over the next few weeks, Hedge has certainly learned the value of prior preparation.

"What it has taught me for the future is that there is a lot of benefits in getting out there and seeing horses if you are able to," he said.

"This year we have been able to because the farms have all been willing to let you see them. The people that have got out there and seen the horses have been really advantaged."