Cover image courtesy of Coolmore Stud
There were 12,862 live foals registered in Australia in 2019, a drop of 149 from the previous season, corresponding with a drop off in both mare and stallion returns across the previous decade.
The one trend that was clear from the 2018 breeding season, which produced the upcoming 2-year-old crop, is that it provided a peak in the number of 'big book' stallions, with 13 individual sires having books of mares of above 200. That compared with just six in that category in 2017 and nine in 2019.
Rubick, then at Coolmore, may have had the biggest book at 263, but it was Newgate's Deep Field who produced the biggest crop, with 185 live foals. Lyndhurst Stud Farm's Better Than Ready had a crop of 178, two more than Widden's Zoustar and four more than Rubick, who had 174.
Deep Field | 185 | 246 |
Better Than Ready | 178 | 236 |
Zoustar | 176 | 243 |
Rubick | 174 | 263 |
Smart Missile | 169 | 222 |
I Am Invincible | 162 | 228 |
Capitalist | 162 | 233 |
Russian Revolution | 157 | 226 |
So You Think | 152 | 225 |
Sebring | 152 | 199 |
Spirit Of Boom | 149 | 217 |
Table: Top 10 Australian stallions by 2019 foal crop
In terms of the greatest increase in foal crop, it was Smart Missile, then in his first season at Twin Hills Stud, who produced the most significant jump, with his crop of 169, 126 more than he produced the previous year.
That jump was not only due to his relocation, but also from the fact he got his first Group 1 winner, Maid Of Heaven, early in that 2018 season.
Rubick, who relocated to Swettenham Stud in Victoria this season, can be expected to make more of a mark with his 2-year-olds in the upcoming season based on numbers alone, with an increase of 83 compared to last year while Deep Field's numbers have also exploded, up by 78.
Both Rubick and Deep Field had big jumps in their fourth crops which usually indicates that 12 months earlier when those matings were planned, that the stallions' first-crop progeny had been well-received commercially through the yearling sales, and that the feedback on them ahead of their first racing season was very positive.
Shuttle stallions can also benefit significantly in terms of their fourth crop because they may have a first Northern Hemisphere crop already making their mark on the track. In the case of Toronado (Ire), he had seven winners in Europe before the start of the Australian breeding season in 2018. His foal crop jumped by 71 to 135 the following season and those horses are turning two on Sunday.
Other stallions which saw a significant year-on-year jump were Better Than Ready (+70), Coolmore's So You Think (NZ) (+59) and Pierro (+38), and Zoustar (+55).
Smart Missile | 169 | 43 | 126 |
Rubick | 174 | 91 | 83 |
Deep Field | 185 | 107 | 78 |
Toronado | 135 | 64 | 71 |
Better Than Ready | 178 | 108 | 70 |
Table: Biggest jumps in foal crops from 2018 to 2019
Changing of the guard
What the foal crop stats of 2019 also point to is the generational change that was about to take place, with the dominant stallions of the previous decade all at a point where their books were more carefully managed and some approaching the end of their careers.
It was to prove the final crop of the great Redoute's Choice, who left us in March 2019. As things stand, the Arrowfield legend has produced 190 2-year-old winners, 40 of them at stakes-level across nine countries. His final 2-year-old crop has just 23 members.
The late Redoute's Choice | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
It is also the final crop of Widden Stud's Sebring, who died a month before Redoute's Choice, but he will have a very strong representation, with a foal crop of 152 in 2019 ready to enhance his considerable legacy.
It is the penultimate crop of now pensioned Arrowfield stallion Not A Single Doubt, with 44 foals, a drop off of 54 from his crop number for the group about to turn three.
Darley's Exceed And Excel also had a drop in his foal crop numbers in 2019, from 75 to 48 - it subsequently rebounded to 86 in 2020 - so he won't have big numbers on his side when it comes to the new season 2-year-old races.
Vinery Stud's More Than Ready (USA) was in his second last season in Australia in 2018 and his foal crop in 2019 of 42 was the smallest of his 19 seasons shuttling.
More Than Ready (USA) when standing at Vinery Stud | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Second-season stars
The freshman stallions of 2020/21 have created history at almost every turn in the past season, with high expectations of their long-term impact on the Australian breeding landscape.
Newgate's Capitalist, who with 21, has the most winners of any of that crop of stallions, will have the numerical advantage on his rivals with a second foal crop of 162 to represent him through the upcoming season. That's just three fewer than his first-crop numbers.
Barnmate Flying Artie, who is likely to finish third in the Champion First Season Sire standings and has produced 10 Australian winners, had a second crop of 109, slightly down from his first crop of 145, but still a very strong representation.
Capitalist | 162 | 165 | -3 |
Flying Artie | 109 | 144 | -35 |
American Pharoah | 103 | 109 | -6 |
Shalaa | 99 | 113 | -14 |
Star Turn | 91 | 115 | -24 |
Frosted | 53 | 65 | -12 |
Extreme Choice | 29 | 48 | -19 |
Table: Second foal crops of selected stallions
Coolmore's American Pharoah (USA) also had a triple-figure foal crop total (103), while Arrowfield's Shalaa (Ire) had 99.
Vinery Stud's Star Turn has already been able to produce 19 winners from his first crop of 115 foals and while his numbers in the second crop dropped to 91, he will still be well-positioned to make an impact.
Newgate's Extreme Choice should, barring late drama, be crowned Champion First Season Sire, which is quite remarkable for a stallion who, due to fertility issues, produced a first crop of 48 foals. His second crop is smaller in number, at 29, but that and the success of his first crop created considerable demand for his progeny through this year's yearling sales, where they averaged over $154,000.
Newgate Farm's Extreme Choice should, barring late drama, be crowned Champion First Season Sire | Standing at Newgate Farm
The established stars
Written Tycoon looks destined to secure his first Australian Sires' Title this season ahead of his move back to Victoria to his new home at Yulong Stud in 2021.
In the 2018 breeding season, he stood at Woodside Park Stud at an increased fee of $110,000 (inc GST) and the following year produced a crop of 123 foals, eight fewer than he did the previous year.
"Written Tycoon looks destined to secure his first Australian Sires' Title this season ahead of his move back to Victoria to his new home at Yulong Stud in 2021."
I Am Invincible's price at Yarraman Park also jumped significantly to $192,500 (inc GST) in 2018 and it certainly didn't dissuade support for him, with his biggest-ever crop of 162 foals produced the following year.
Snitzel went into the 2018 breeding season having won his second consecutive Champion Sires' title with his fee at Arrowfield advancing to $220,000 (inc GST). He served a book of 177 mares that year and produced a crop of 135, who are set to turn two this week.
The new kids
The fresh crop of Australian stallions with their first runners in 2021/22 will be highly anticipated and on numbers alone, they are poised to make a considerable impact.
Newgate's Russian Revolution produced the biggest crop of foals, with 157, while Coolmore's Merchant Navy has a first crop of 134 to secure some early success.
Darley's Impending has a crop of 119 foals, one more than Yarraman Park's Hellbent, while Swettenham Stud's Highland Reel (Ire) (103) and Aquis' Spieth (102), both have triple-figure representatives.
Arrowfield Stud's Pariah has a crop of 99 to source success from, while Caravaggio (USA), who shuttled to Coolmore Australia for one season, has 91.
Russian Revolution | 157 | 226 |
Merchant Navy | 134 | 247 |
Impending | 119 | 186 |
Hellbent | 118 | 182 |
Highland Reel | 103 | 148 |
Spieth | 102 | 149 |
Pariah | 99 | 143 |
Caravaggio | 91 | 143 |
Heroic Valour | 85 | 116 |
Tosen Stardom | 85 | 123 |
Table: First foal crops from selected stallions
Raheen Stud's Heroic Valour could be a first-season surprise packet, as he has a first foal crop of 85 to derive his success from, while Woodside Park's Tosen Stardom (Jpn) also had 85 live first-crop foals.
Also above 80 were Aquis' Invader (82) and Coolmore shuttle stallion Churchill (Ire), who had 81 live foals in 2019.
The other first-season stallion to make a major mark on the Australian yearling sales in 2021 was Cambridge Stud's Almanzor (Fr). It would be unusual for a New Zealand-based stallion to have an impact in Australian 2-year-old races, but he does have a strong first foal crop of 94 to source success from.