Magic momentum continues for Proisir in the lead-up to Karaka

Cover image courtesy of Rich Hill Stud

Having ended Savabeel’s vice-like eight-year reign as Champion Sire of New Zealand, most of Proisir’s future achievements will likely pale into insignificance compared with that mighty feat, but what the multiple Group 1-producing stallion achieved at last week’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale is more than deserving of a mention in the same breath.

Having seen four of his five yearlings sell for up to $450,000 at an average of $282,500, Proisir ended Book 1 of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale as the stallion with the highest average return by multiple of service fee, with his average figure over 22 times that of the NZ$12,500 plus GST service fee that those yearlings in question were conceived off.

To put that achievement into perspective, no other stallion standing in Australia or New Zealand (with an advertised service fee) returned an average price over 17 times their respective service fees, an achievement made all the more impressive given that those five yearlings that headed across the Tasman formed Proisir’s first ever representation in Book 1 of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Combined with his son Waitak (NZ) winning the G1 Sistema Railway S. at Pukekohe Park on New Year’s Day, and his G1 Australian Guineas-winning daughter Legarto (NZ) returning to action with a dominant display at the newly-renovated Ellerslie on Saturday, 2024 could hardly have started better for Proisir, much to the delight of Rich Hill Stud’s John Thompson.

Gallery: Some of Proisir's Group 1 winners, images courtesy of Kenton Wright (Race Images)

“I think the way they’ve sold at Magic Millions, people who paid NZ$12,500 for the service fee will be feeling pretty good right now, because they don’t need to make NZ$300,000 to get a return on investment as perhaps you do with some other stallions,” Thompson told The Thoroughbred Report as he prepared to welcome Roger James, the co-trainer of one of Proisir’s biggest flagbearers in Prowess (NZ), for the final on-farm yearling parade ahead of the New Zealand Bloodstock (NZB) Karaka Yearling Sale later this month.

“It’s common knowledge that they were conceived off of a NZ$12,500 service fee, hence the quality of the mare, but the big thing with him is that all of his good horses so far are out of those sort of mares, so people can buy them with confidence knowing that they could potentially be Group 1 winners because he has upgraded so many pedigrees.

“I think the market has suddenly come to realise that and they’ll be very sought after at Karaka I imagine. I guess expectations will be quite high, judging on what has happened at Magic Millions, but I think vendors will meet the market and be happy to take home a good profit.

“He’s had the first Group 1 winner of the new year in Australasia and he’s got Legarto primed for the new million-dollar 4-year-old race on Karaka Millions night, so I guess you’d have to say there are a lot of positives for Proisir going into the sale.”

Quality continues to rise

Proisir ended last year’s NZB Karaka Yearling Sale in fourth on the leading sires by aggregate standings, having sold 45 yearlings up to a high of NZ$330,000 for a total gross exceeding NZ$5 million. Undoubtedly impressed by the performances on Australian soil from the likes of Legarto, Levante (NZ) and Riodini (NZ) - of which the latter pair were bred from his first crop conceived off a NZ$7000 plus GST service fee - a number of Proisir’s progeny were secured by Australian-based buyers, spearheaded by the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable, who signed the docket for five of his sons and daughters throughout Book 1.

Turning his attention to this year’s Karaka Yearling Sale, Thompson revealed that Wentwood Grange’s draft contains a very nice colt by Proisir out of the Group 1 producer Leigh Valley (NZ) (Bianconi {USA}), but the studmaster couldn’t be happier with the 10 Proisir yearlings that Rich Hill has in its 24-strong draft for Book 1, which will be heading north to the Karaka sales complex on Monday morning.

“These are definitely a step up pedigree-wise on what he has previously sold at Karaka,” Thompson said. “Last year he had 19 yearlings in Book 1 conceived off an NZ$9000 service fee and every one of them sold at an average of around NZ$190,000 I think.

“We’ve got some lovely fillies by him this year. There’s a filly out of a mare called Piazza and the horse in question is a three-quarter sibling to Riodini, who has been one of his flagbearers in Australia the last few years.

“We have a colt I really like out of a mare called Scottish Star. He’s a first foal, a very athletic colt, and the mare has a lovely pedigree behind her. There is also a filly out of Temolie, who is a half-sister to Invincibella, the great I Am Invincible mare with a beautiful pedigree behind her as well.

“You’re seeing a real progression in pedigree to what he’s had previously, but he’s a horse that has done it the hard way as everyone knows. He can throw a good horse from any pedigree.”

Gallery: Some of the yearlings by Proisir being offered in 2024, images courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock

As the old adage dictates, success breeds success, and over the coming years Proisir will be given the chance to prove Thompson’s theory to be correct by covering some of the best-credentialled mares Australasia has to offer.

That opportunity has already been afforded to him this past breeding season, during which his book once again included the dams of his Group 1 stars Dark Destroyer (NZ) and Prowess.

He also covered the dam of another Group 1 winner in Ruthless Lady (NZ) (Keeper), the dam of Ruthless Dame (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}), as well as Asathought (So You Think {NZ}), the stakes-winning half-sister to nine-time Group 1-winning mare Avantage (Fastnet Rock), while Group 1 winners Roch ‘N’ Horse (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}), Concert Hall (NZ) (Savabeel) and Stolen Dance (NZ) (Alamosa {NZ}) were just three more in a long list of top-line mares to visit Proisir this past breeding season.

The names above provide clear evidence that his increase in service fee to a career high NZ$70,000 plus GST did nothing to weaken the appetite for his services, with a number of the industry’s most prominent breeders from across the Tasman helping to fill his book with consummate ease.

“I think the key thing is he had 24 or 25 mares fly over from Australia this year, including from some of Australia’s leading breeders,” Thompson revealed.

“We all know Godolphin bought into the horse last year and they sent three lovely mares over. Newhaven Park, Emirates Park, those sorts of people, they recognise quality and they recognise value, so they sent mares over to him, which is exciting.

“We restricted his book to around 150, but he finished the season off nicely.”

Becoming a Champion Sire

Having global industry giants as Godolphin pay $400,000 to secure a breeding right in Proisir at last year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale was far from the only achievement in what was a landmark year for the brother to fellow New Zealand-based stallion Divine Prophet.

Proisir sired the winner of both the G1 NZ 2000 Guineas and G1 NZ 1000 Guineas last season in Pier (NZ) and Legarto, joining Savabeel, Fastnet Rock and Pins as only the fourth stallion to achieve that feat since the turn of the century.

As well as siring more individual Group 1 winners than any other stallion in Australia and New Zealand last season, Proisir was crowned Champion Sire of New Zealand for the very first time, showing his dominance by leading those standings based on prizemoney, number of stakes winners and number of Group 1 winners - almost all of the key metrics.

Of all last season’s achievements, however, there is only one title that matters in the eyes of Thompson, who despite believing in his credentials from day dot, could never have envisaged Proisir reaching the heights he is currently scaling.

“As studmasters we all see something in a stallion and we secretly dream when we take them on that they’ll be Champion Sire one day, but as you know, that very rarely happens,” he said.

“We’ve had some good stallions in the past - Pentire sired 16 Group 1 winners, but the closest he finished in the sires’ premiership was second one year.

“There’s nothing like getting Champion Sire honours, because once they’re a Champion Sire, they’re always a Champion Sire.

“It was a great achievement and I think the key thing last year in particular was his Group 1 horses. He had five individual Group 1 winners, which placed him as the leading Group 1 sire in Australia. It’s a big feather in any stallion’s cap to achieve that.”

For Thompson, the most pleasing aspect of all Proisir’s success to date has not been the glory it has brought to Rich Hill, but rather the incredible results that some of his earliest and most loyal supporters have enjoyed courtesy of the hugely progressive stallion.

“It's a bit of a rags to riches story, but some of the shareholders have done wonderfully well out of the horse,” he added.

“He is a syndicated horse and they have bred a lot of his good horses. Warwick Jeffries, a small breeder who has about half a dozen mares, he bred two Group 1 winners by him last year in Legarto and Dark Destroyer.

“The guy who raced him, Tony Falcone, has been fully behind the horse right the way through. He retained shares in him and I’ve developed a great relationship with Tony. He’ll be coming out to Karaka and he texts me every time he has a winner, so I’ve had a lot of texts from him. He’s really excited about his achievements.

“It has been great for the New Zealand industry as well to have a horse going as well as him.”