Rich Hill Stud announces fees: hikes for Proisir and Satono Aladdin

Rich Hill Stud on Tuesday announced its five-horse roster for the 2023 breeding season, with all eyes on the 13-year-old Proisir. From last season’s fee of NZ$17,500 (plus GST), the horse has climbed considerably, and expectedly, to NZ$70,000 (plus GST).

There will be no new additions to the roster, but shuttler Satono Aladdin (Jpn) will return at an increased fee, stretching from last year’s NZ$12,500 (plus GST) to NZ$45,000 (plus GST), and both Shocking, at NZ$12,500 (plus GST), and Ace High, at NZ$10,000 (plus GST), remain unchanged.

The only other alteration is 12-year-old Vadamos (Fr), the son of Monsun (Ger) returning to Rich Hill at a slight reduction from last season’s NZ$15,000 (plus GST) to NZ$12,500 (plus GST).

Proisir’s fee increase didn’t surprise anyone. The stallion is almost a certainty to be Champion Sire in New Zealand this season, relieving Savabeel of an eight-year grip on the title.

“You certainly don’t pluck these numbers out of thin air, that’s for sure,” said John Thompson, studmaster at Rich Hill.

Thompson was in Sydney a fortnight ago for the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. There, he received valuable feedback about his stallions, which he took home to decide on suitable service fees for the spring upcoming.

“I went over to the Sydney sales for a couple of days and the amount of support and interest I received from the Australian breeders was astonishing,” he said. “They were as excited about Proisir as I was, and I realised the horse was going to get significant support from Australia this year.

“For a horse that’s had five Group 1 winners this season, he is probably still looking value to Australian breeders at NZ$70,000, particularly with the slight difference in New Zealand dollars on the exchange rate right now.”

As of Tuesday, Proisir’s service fee equates to just under AU$65,000, which would be exclusive of GST. It puts him very competitively among Australia’s best-performing stallions, but it doesn’t price him out of his New Zealand market.

“If you look at Savabeel, our multiple-times Champion Sire, he’s been around the NZ$100,000 mark consistently, and I think at NZ$70,000, Proisir slotted in really nicely,” Thompson said. “From the response I’ve had this morning, I think we’re fairly on the mark with it.”

Rich Hill was determined not to price Proisir out of reach of local breeders. After all, Thompson said, it’s been the Kiwi breeders that have built this stallion from his first season in 2015.

The studmaster also acknowledged that the New Zealand racing industry is on the climb, with positive vibes around the TAB/Entain partnership, which was announced in late March, and also the brilliance of the New Zealand racehorses in Australia this season.

“Momentum is building down here, and Proisir is still a relatively young horse,” Thompson said. “There is time to further increase his fee, but we just felt that people will still have the opportunity to use him in New Zealand, and who knows where he might be with his better books yet to come through in two or three years’ time.”

Proisir has been scarily good this year as far as success goes. His five Group 1 winners have been Legarto (NZ), Levante (NZ), Pier (NZ), Prowess (NZ) and Dark Destroyer (NZ).

Gallery: Proisir's five Group 1 winners so far this season, images courtesy of NZ Racing Desk

Legarto crossed the Tasman and won the G1 Australian Guineas, while Prowess did the same to win the G1 Vinery Stud S. Tapildoodledo (NZ) added to the tally recently in Australia when winning the G2 Tulloch S. for Sunshine Coast trainer Kerry Taplin.

This remarkable haul on the doorstep of the Australian industry is very likely, according to Thompson, to bring a steady flow of Australian mares to Rich Hill Stud this season.

“There’s going to be significant traffic flow across the Tasman to him this year,” he said. “I can already see that from the number of people that approached me while I was in Sydney, people asking me to reserve spots for them. I said it was all subject to his service fee, and I can’t honestly see anyone being put off by it.”

Last breeding season, Proisir covered 169 mares, which hovered around the magic 150 mark, and that is what Rich Hill will be keeping to this spring.

“Last year was the biggest book he’s served, given he served 150 in his first year,” Thompson said. “All stallions differ, but I believe 150 is the optimum number for him. It will also be interesting to see this year how he goes with some of those faster Australian mares he looks like getting.”

According to Thompson, some of the Australian mares that will cross the Tasman to Proisir promise those speed lines that the stallion probably hasn’t had in New Zealand.

“In New Zealand, he’s served more of a staying product, and that’s enabled him to have those lovely fillies that can win over a mile and further,” the studmaster said. “So it will be really interesting to see the product of some faster mares. The Choisir line is fast, but it’s probably not as precocious as some people think.”

Thompson said many of Choisir’s best progeny haven’t been early 2-year-olds, which would go in-hand with Proisir’s record too. But there’s also Proisir being from an Encosta De Lago mare, Prophet Jewel, that has helped his profile in New Zealand.

“Being from an Encosta De Lago mare, it’s been beautiful being able to mate him with those great New Zealand families from the Sir Tristram and Zabeel lines, and they’ve been very prolific in Proisir’s career so far,” Thompson said.

Largely, Proisir has upgraded so many of the mares he has served since 2015, and Thompson said stallions like that are few and far between. He’s not a horse that went off the boil with average books early in his career.

“That’s why the future for him could be so exciting,” Thompson said. “He’s got the better books all still to come, and he’ll definitely go to another level.”

With no more big-money races left in the season, it’s almost a certainly that Proisir will be Champion Sire in New Zealand for 2022/23. He is clear of Savabeel on earnings by NZ$1.3 million, and second to that stallion by winners (46 as against 38).

It’s been a brilliant competition and an honour, according to Thompson.

“Savabeel has been Champion stallion in New Zealand for eight years, and Proisir is going to be the horse that ends that domination,” he said. “And there’s really no way anyone can catch him; there just aren’t enough big races left. It puts it into perspective how well Proisir has done because horses like Savabeel are once-in-a-generation stallions.”

The rising star

Joining Proisir among the climbers this upcoming season is Satono Aladdin, who has jumped from NZ$12,500 to NZ$45,000. The increase comes off the back of his Group 1 winners Pennyweka (NZ) and Tokyo Tycoon (NZ), despite the latter result pending an investigation after human error caused a positive post-race sample.

Satono Aladdin has also had the Group 3 winners Sacred Satono (NZ) and Grand Impact (NZ) this season.

Satono Aladdin has been a valuable arm of the Deep Impact (Jpn) sireline this season, with Pennyweka following suit with her Proisir peers and winning the G1 Australian Oaks during The Championships this month. She had already won the G1 New Zealand Oaks.

“With Satono’s fee, it was a moving goalpost situation,” said Thompson. “Pennyweka was from his first crop but she’d taken a little bit of time to come to her best. And then, all of a sudden from his second crop, he had Tokyo Tycoon leap out of the ground and win five from five without really being extended.

“He had some other nice horses, but really Pennyweka was the one who made us sit up. It was the way she won those Oaks races, and especially the way she won in Sydney. It added a significant amount to his service fee, probably another NZ$10,000.”

Satono Aladdin is from a Storm Cat (USA) mare with Fappiano (USA) prominent in the female pedigree. It’s what attracted Thompson to the shuttler in the first instance.

“The blood has traditionally worked in Australasia,” he said. “Some of the Japanese pedigrees are different in that they’re complete outcrosses, whereas Satono Aladdin has blood that people really recognise down here. It seems to have clicked really well, and of course Pennyweka is out of a Pentire mare, and Pentire was our foundation stallion.”

Satono Aladdin has served a number of Pentire (GB) mares among the Rich Hill broodmare band, Thompson confident that the cross will be a success. The Japanese shuttler served 169 mares last season, a number expected again to be around 150.

“He’s not a syndicated horse but I’m expecting him to be really popular,” Thompson said. “I believe we’ll get mares from Australia to him because I got that feedback when I was in Sydney, with breeders sending a couple to Proisir and a couple more to Satono Aladdin.

“At that stage, Pennyweka hadn’t won the Oaks in Sydney and they were telling me how well the stallion was going. It’s not until people see it on their own doorstep that it rams it home. You can have good stallions in any country but when they start presenting winners at home, that’s when people notice how good they really are.”

The value sires

Bringing up the rest of the Rich Hill roster, the Melbourne Cup winner Shocking, the French shuttler Vadamos and the VRC Derby winner Ace High represent a cocktail of good value.

“Shocking is Mr Reliable, isn’t he?” Thompson said. “Very often I can’t think why he isn’t a significantly higher fee, but people take him for granted a little bit. He consistently churns out the good horses and it was a tragedy losing I’m Thunderstruck, but he’s had Self Obsession the last few years and Hezashocka is starting to put his hand up.

“They just need a bit of time to mature mentally and physically but, if you’re prepared to give them that, you’ve got an opportunity to breed a Group 1 winner at NZ$12,500. There’s not many stallions in Australasia offering that.”

At that fee, Shocking is unchanged from the last breeding season when he covered 69 mares, while his barn mate Vadamos, who will shuttle in from France during July, is down slightly from NZ$15,000 to NZ$12,500.

“Both of these horses are Group 1 stallions, and they both offer good sale-ring returns,” Thompson said. “But they both need that bit of time to mature, and as the Vadamos horses hit five and six, they’ll be good, tough racehorses for the Monsun line.

“At that fee, both horses are a good fit because we couldn’t put Shocking ahead of Vadamos or Vadamos ahead of Shocking.”

Gallery: Rich Hill Stud's stallions in 2023

Ace High, finally, is unchanged at NZ$10,000, with the son of High Chaparral (Ire) having just his first crop to the track. He’s had only one runner to date, so it’s very early days for the dual Group 1 winner.

“His initial service fee in his first year was NZ$10,000, and that was to guarantee he’d get a good book of mares,” Thompson said. “He’s had some very nice trial winners so far. Even at Avondale the other day he had three 2-year-olds trial for two winners and a second, and they’re all nice, progressive horses.

“Ace High is one of those who could all of a sudden get a couple of late autumn winners and he could look exceptional value. That’s the risk you take with stallions, and he’s only a young horse so we can always put him up next year.”

It’s been a vintage season for Rich Hill Stud in almost every way, reminding Thompson of years gone by with Pentire, who was the farm’s foundation stallion in the 1990s and a sire of close to 50 stakes winners.

Pentire was good enough to do things the hard way in his early years and see things through, which has given Thompson plenty of perspective.

“Without Pentire, we wouldn’t have been able to invest in these types of horses as we have now,” the studmaster said. “Obviously it’s progress and we’ve been at it a long time. We’ve been standing horses for close to 30 years now, and it doesn’t happen overnight but it’s all come together.

“With these five stallions, it’s no surprise they’ve been successful because they’re not coming out of left field. They’re all well-performed horses with good bloodlines and good records.”

Table: Rich Hill Stud's stallion fees for 2023, *not inclusive of GST