Cover image courtesy of Widden Stud
We are almost five months through the 2023/24 racing season in Australia, a period which has seemingly flown right by. Not long ago, Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars) was stomping away with the G1 Memsie S., and now we are on the other side of the Perth Carnival, rapidly approaching the autumn.
Spearheading the group of second-season stallions this season across both prizemoney and winners, Trapeze Artist has been an early lamplighter for the Premiership, crossing 20 individual winners and $3 million in prizemoney. But how does he stack up against recent leaders at this junction of the calendar?
Diverse set of stallions off to strong starts
While Trapeze Artist has built himself a strong lead atop the Premiership, he is not the only high-quality stallion who has gotten out of the blocks positively since August 1.
| Trapeze Artist | $3,122,715 |
| Harry Angel | $2,449,790 |
| Grunt | $1,387,160 |
| Brave Smash | $1,385,375 |
| The Autumn Sun | $1,365,640 |
| Justify | $1,329,680 |
| Written By | $1,253,973 |
| Saxon Warrior | $653,480 |
| Encryption | $635,980 |
| Prized Icon | $610,180 |
| Total | $14,193,973 |
Table: Earnings of second-season sire progeny at the end of the 2023
| Trapeze Artist | 21 |
| The Autumn Sun | 16 |
| Justify | 15 |
| Written By | 14 |
| Harry Angel | 13 |
| Grunt | 11 |
| Brave Smash | 11 |
| Saxon Warrior | 8 |
| West Of Dalby | 8 |
| Encryption | 7 |
Table: Winners by second-season sires in the current racing season
Immediately noticeable with just a cursory glance is the amount of non-Australian bred stallions represented prominently. Of the top 10 second-season sires by earnings, four were bred outside Australasia, with Grunt (NZ) starting life on the other side of the Tasman. Two are Japanese-bred, Brave Smash (Jpn) and Saxon Warrior (Jpn), with Harry Angel (Ire) and Justify (USA) representing Europe and North America respectively.
Compared to the corresponding period in 2022, it’s a decrease in locally bred stock featuring prominently, with Australasia’s slice of the pie dipping from seven to five.
| Almanzor | $1,871,675 |
| Russian Revolution | $1,609,705 |
| Hellbent | $1,222,713 |
| Impending | $647,228 |
| Supido | $632,785 |
| Ribchester | $565,185 |
| Merchant Navy | $549,637 |
| Heroic Valour | $549,227 |
| Churchill | $521,477 |
| The Mission | $444,250 |
| Total | $8,613,882 |
Table: Earnings of second-season sire progeny in the 2022/23 racing season
Almanzor (Fr) was able to take a lead thanks to the win of Manzoice in the G1 VRC Derby, at the time the data was captured he had only 18 Australian runners to his name, compared to second-placed Russian Revolution, who had 84.
By contrast, the overall volume of runners has been lower amongst the top 10 compared to this time last season, with 403 runners in 2022 and 385 runners in 2023. Despite the drop in quantity, collective prizemoney claimed by the top 10 has soared, from $8,613,882 to $14,193,973, a 60 per cent increase.
Hellbent, who was third at this point in 2022, would be eighth in this class with a direct transfer of prizemoney, with sixth place in 2022 being almost $50,000 lower than 10th place in 2023. Eight of the 10 leaders in 2023 have seen at least one of their progeny win a black-type race, compared to four in 2022.
Hellbent | Standing at Yarraman Park Stud
The massive prizemoney accrued so far this season has come from 124 individual winners, for an average figure of $114,470 per success. As for 2022, the 103 wins shared across the top 10 came with an average purse of $83,630, still higher than your average maiden, but considerably less than the amount banked by connections on average so far this season.
But does the old adage of ‘you get what you pay for’ ring true? It certainly does in the case of Trapeze Artist, the most expensive initially of the current top 10, having been introduced at a fee of $88,000 (inc GST).
| Trapeze Artist | $88,000 | $55,000 |
| Harry Angel | $22,000 | $33,000 |
| Grunt | $13,750 | $22,000 |
| Brave Smash | $22,000 | $33,000 |
| The Autumn Sun | $77,000 | $66,000 |
| Justify | Private | $77,000 |
| Written By | $24,750 | $27,500 |
| Saxon Warrior | $24,750 | N/A |
| Encryption | $13,200 | $13,200 |
| Prized Icon | $11,000 | N/A |
Table: Fees of current top 10 second-season sires
Stallions such as Grunt and Brave Smash have seen rapid increases to their fee on the back of early success, while Harry Angel, who hit a low of $16,500 (inc GST) has rocketed up in cost to stand for $33,000 (inc GST), with his strong early results across both hemispheres highlighting the potential of the son of Dark Angel (Ire).
Squeaking in towards the bottom of the top 10, Encryption is in isolation amongst the current eight stallions who served mares in 2023, with his service fee of $13,200 (inc GST) being almost $9000 less than Grunt, who is currently the second cheapest. His numbers have been given a nice boost thanks to Encoder, who was victorious on Saturday in the G3 Grand Prix S. at Eagle Farm, the $174,000 in prizemoney from his victory a return of over 10 times his service fee.
Earnings up, victories down
Looking back beyond 2022 provides a fascinating picture of the changing landscape of the Australian racing and breeding industry. The ever-growing presence of shuttle stallions, a gradual decline in foals and a sugar rush of prizemoney and incentives spurred on by the COVID wagering boom have caused dramatic shifts to the status quo.
Historically speaking, Trapeze Artist, and indeed the chasing pack behind him, could be considered a high tide for a sophomore class, with superior or comparable figures to previous classes in this week of the racing year.
Trapeze Artist | Standing at Widden Stud
Going back to the 2018/19 season, only one second-season sire has earned more prizemoney than Trapeze Artist, Rubick in 2019/20, which was earned largely off the back of the slashing victory of Yes Yes Yes in The Everest.
Only six stallions have eclipsed $2 million in prizemoney around this junction in that period, with Trapeze Artist and Harry Angel joining Zoustar in 2018/19, Rubick in 2019/20 and both Maurice (Jpn) and Capitalist in 2021/22.
In fact, Trapeze Artist and Harry Angel force their way into the top four second-season sires by prizemoney for the corresponding period dating back to the 2018/19 season.
| Rubick | $7,744,490 | 2019/20 |
| Trapeze Artist | $3,122,715 | 2023/24 |
| Zoustar | $3,006,195 | 2018/19 |
| Harry Angel | $2,449,790 | 2023/24 |
| Maurice | $2,167,040 | 2021/22 |
| Capitalist | $2,140,055 | 2021/22 |
| Deep Field | $1,915,885 | 2019/20 |
| Almanzor | $1,871,675 | 2022/23 |
| Brazen Beau | $1,624,575 | 2019/20 |
| Russian Revolution | $1,609,705 | 2022/23 |
| Total | $27,652,125 |
Table: Top second-season sires by prizemoney between 2018 and 2023
Across the last six seasons, the collective prizemoney of $14,193,973 from the top 10 stallions of this season is the second highest, with only the class of 2019/20 with a superior total. This was also the first season to feature seven individual million-dollar earners in that period, going past the previous best of five.
One figure that is down, at least in an overall context, is individual winners, which despite rebounding from a trough of 103 in the 2022/23 season, still clocked in at the second-lowest overall for the data period.
| 2018/19 | 154 |
| 2019/20 | 158 |
| 2020/21 | 132 |
| 2021/22 | 144 |
| 2022/23 | 103 |
| 2023/24 | 124 |
Table: top second-season sires by winners between 2018 and 2023
Early success vital for Premiership glory
Ask a fan of European football, and they’ll tell you being on top at Christmas, while good, doesn’t guarantee success. Most campaigns, much like our racing season in the Southern Hemisphere, commence in August, with Christmas often being sighted as the halfway mark, even if not always numerically accurate.
There is a more direct correlation between a strong opening stanza to the season and claiming a second-season sires' title in Australia however, with most sires boasting spring success remaining prominent in the final numbers.
Russian Revolution | Standing at Newgate
Last season, Russian Revolution took the title after sitting second in mid-December, with Almanzor placing third, still an impressive effort for a stallion not even standing in Australia.
In the 2021/22 racing season, Maurice and Capitalist didn’t budge from their positions in the top two, while 2020/21 saw a flipped script, mid-December leader Kermadec (NZ) slid to finish seventh, while Headwater climbed from fifth to first. It should be mentioned that Kermadec’s prizemoney figure at the time was $1,269,075, the lowest amount of any leader at the corresponding time period by some $600,000.
Gallery: Top second-season sires in the 2021/22 racing season
Off the back of siring The Everest winner, Rubick was never going to be caught in 2019/20, with the top three of him. Deep Field and Brazen Beau remained unchanged from their December positions to the end of July.
Zoustar, who was a dominant leader approaching the halfway mark of 2018/19, comfortably finished atop the rankings by the time the season was done, with Spirit Of Boom second at both markers.
Within the last five seasons, Headwater is the only Stallion Premiership winner to be outside of the top two in December | Standing at Vinery Stud
In the last five completed seasons, the leader at Christmas has finished in the top three on all but one occasion, and held their lead to the finish in three of those.
Only one eventual Premiership winner, Headwater, was outside the top two at this mark of the season, showing the vitality of some first-crop progeny being able to stand up in races like the G1 Caulfield Guineas, the G1 Golden Rose S. and the G1 Coolmore Stud S.
