Cover image courtesy of Michael McInally
The victories of Artorius in the G1 Blue Diamond S., Stay Inside in the G1 Golden Slipper S. and Captivant in the G1 Champagne S. for their respective Newgate stallions Flying Artie, Extreme Choice and Capitalist forged a path of dominance for freshman stallions in Australia's best 2-year-old races.
The last time that a trio of 2-year-old Group 1 winners emerged from three first-crop sires in one season was back in 2009/10, when Star Witness won the Blue Diamond S. for Starcraft (NZ), Crystal Lily won the Golden Slipper S. for Stratum and Pressday claimed the TJ Smith Classic (now the JJ Atkins) for Domesday.
The current flow of Group 1 success from first-crop progeny certainly defies a long-term trend and when you add in the placegetters from the five Group 1 juvenile races this year, that dominance becomes even more clear.
"Eight of the 15 placegetters of those races (Group 1 2-year-old races), or 53 per cent, were by first-season sires."
Eight of the 15 placegetters of those races, or 53 per cent, were by first-season sires. As a means of looking at how they measure up, 41 per cent of total runners in those five Group 1 races (27 of 66) were by freshmen sires.
Artie a champ in almost any other season
The earnings of Flying Artie's progeny this season to date, $1.98 million, would be sufficient for him to be crowned Champion First Season Sire in 10 of the past 12 seasons. That he sits in third place, speaks volumes of the quality of the competition in the freshmen contingent.
His achievements to date have been a little overshadowed, but he will always hold the honour of being the first of that collection to produce a Group 1 winner, with Artorius. The Chris Waller-trained Giannis became a Group 1 placegetter in his own right when second in the JJ Atkins, while Flying Artie has produced nine other winners, the equal third most of any first-season stallion in 2020/21.
It's noteworthy that as a racehorse himself Flying Artie improved from being a well-performed 2-year-old colt to be crowned Champion 3-Year-Old Colt of Australia the following season, highlighted by his win in the G1 Coolmore Stud S. A similar profile of improvement from his progeny would see them to the fore in the best 3-year-old races next season.
Extreme history
Extreme Choice's extraordinary season has been well-documented. His progeny have now earned more money ($3.3275 million) than any first-season sire in Australian history.
Off a foal crop of just 48, he has produced a Group 1 winner in Stay Inside, and two other stakes winners including Tiger Of Malay, who finished third in Saturday's G1 JJ Atkins S. It is the smallest first crop from a stallion who has produced a Group 1 winner in his freshman year in 26 years, since Rave Report, who from his 13 foals was able to sire 1995 Castlemaine QTC Classic (now the JJ Atkins) winner Ravarda.
Extreme Choice leads a thrilling battle for the title of Champion First Season Sire with barnmate, Capitalist. Less than $250,000 separates them with six weeks left in the season, but Capitalist has the weight of numbers firmly in his favour. He has almost four times the starters (51 to 13) and four times the winners (16 to four).
His highest earner is not Champagne S. winner Captivant, but instead R. Listed Inglis Millennium winner Profiteer, and the son of Written Tycoon has become one of the most appealing commercial prospects in the country, having had his 2021 service fee increased to $99,000 (inc GST).
History says
Looking back at history, Group 1 successes from the progeny of first-season sires have been relatively rare in the 11 seasons since 2009/10 and include Romantic Touch for Northern Meteor in the 2013 JJ Atkins S., Press Statement for Hinchinbrook in the 2015 JJ Atkins S., Sacred Elixir (NZ) for Pour Moi (Ire) in the 2016 JJ Atkins S. and Kiamichi for Sidestep in the 2019 Golden Slipper.
Prior to 2010, we also find it as a relatively rare achievement from the likes of Camarilla (Elusive Quality {USA}) in the 2007 AJC Sires' Produce S., Carry On Cutie (More Than Ready {USA}) in the 2005 G1 Champagne S. and Lovely Jubly (Lion Hunter) in the 2001 TJ Smith S. and QTC Sires' Produce S.
The proliferation of Group 1-producing freshmen stallions was much greater in the 1990s, where there were five consecutive seasons of them from 1990/91 until 1994/95 from Victory Prince (through son Tierce), Marauding (NZ) (through Burst), Last Tycoon (Ire) (through Lady Jakeo), Danehill (USA) (through Flying Spur) and Rave Report (through Ravarda), which were then followed up by Umatilla (NZ) (through Umah) and Perugino (USA) (through Testa Rossa) later in the decade. It's worth noting there were more Group 1 2-year-old races in that era.
Proven and successful
While the focus in 2020/21 has been on those first-season stallions, the two proven stallions who produced Group 1 winners are also both noteworthy in their own way, Street Boss (USA) and Frankel (GB).
Street Boss' Anamoe was Australia's most consistent Group 1-performing 2-year-old this season, having placed in both the Blue Diamond S. and Golden Slipper S. before dominating the G1 Inglis Sires', putting forward his case to be crowned Champion 2-Year-Old.
He became the first Australian-bred 2-year-old Group 1 winner for Darley’s Street Boss, who has undergone a mid-to-late career revival, and as a result has moved north to Kelvinside after 11 seasons at Northwood Park in Victoria.
Street Boss also became the first American-bred stallion to sire a Group 1 2-year-old winner in Australia since Ad Valorem (USA) had Capital Gain win the 2017 JJ Atkins S. He is currently 20th overall in the Australian Sires' Table, well in front of his previous best (42nd), with 61 winners, among them five stakes winners, including Group 1 winners Anamoe and Elite Street.
Frankel achieved a rare feat as well with Converge's victory last Saturday, in siring a Group 1-winning Australian 2-year-old despite not standing in either Australia or New Zealand. Lord Kanaloa’s (Jpn) Tagaloa broke fresh ground last year when he became the first 2-year-old Group 1 winner this century conceived off an overseas cover and Converge follows suit in that regard.
Frankel has had only 10 2-year-old runners in Australia and from that very small sample size has produced four winners, including a Group 1 winner in Converge and a Group 2 winner in Hungry Heart, who of course went on to dual Group 1 success as a 3-year-old this season.
As well as being by five different sires, the winners of the five Group 1 2-year-old races were from different stables, albeit, all from major names in the Australian thoroughbred industry. Anthony and Sam Freedman's Blue Diamond S. success with Artorius was followed up by Anthony's brothers Richard and Michael Freedman claiming the Golden Slipper with Stay Inside.
Godolphin's James Cummings won the Inglis Sires' with Anamoe, while Peter and Paul Snowden secured elite success with Captivant, before Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott with Converge.
Two of the five winners were homebreds, with the average yearling price of the other three Group 1 winners, Artorius, Stay Inside and Captivant, at $290,000.
