‘It’s important that breeders get a win’: Yarraman Park release their 2026 fees

Cover image courtesy Yarraman Park

Yarraman Park Stud will stand the same three stallions in 2026 as they did in 2025. Three-time Champion Sire I Am Invincible will stand for an unchanged fee of $220,000 (inc GST) as he heads into his 17th year at stud, while his son Hellbent gets a lift to $55,000 including GST (up from $38,500 in 2025). Brave Smash gets a slight reduction, down to $22,000 (inc GST).

All three stallions at Yarraman Park Stud have one thing in common. They all sired a Group 1 winner in their first crop, and it’s this ability to leave elite racehorses that has Harry Mitchell excited about each of them.

“One thing a stallion's got to do is prove he can get elite horses,” said Mitchell. I Am Invincible, who has 19 Group 1 winners, sired Brazen Beau and Voodoo Lad in his first crop. Hellbent sired Magic Time and Benedetta in his first crop, and Brave Smash sired G1 Rupert Clarke Stakes winner Kimochi in his first crop.

Finding the right price for the market position

As a smaller stallion farm, Yarraman Park Stud understands the pressures facing breeders in the commercial marketplace at the moment. The top end is typically strong, and I Am Invincible easily sits clear as one of the most commercial stallions in Australia. Across all nine yearling sales held so far this year, I Am Invincible’s yearlings have averaged $559,000, and he’s had seven yearlings hit that magical seven figure mark in 2026.

For the other two horses on the roster, it’s about finding the balance of value for breeders.

“It's important that the breeders get a win. It's not easy for breeders, we know because we’ve been in the breeding game all our lives and have been here a long time now,” Mitchell said.

“We're very grateful for the luck of getting a stallion like Vinnie and we're also very appreciative of Hellbent. We're in a position now with our broodmare band and our clients, where we can do a really good job with the stallions we've got.”

Through the deeds of I Am Invincible, who began his stud career in 2010 at a fee of $11,000 including GST, Yarraman Park Stud have been able to invest into upgrading their broodmare band to the benefit of their current trio of stallions. These beginnings allows the Mitchell family an insight into how difficult it can be as a breeder.

“I think there's a lot of breeders hurting out there, but you've got to get the balance right of what you pay and what you can get back.

“The one great thing about our stallions is they're on an upward trajectory, especially the young horses. You're going into them with far better books in front of you. And I think that's a big key. If you go to the horse who is on the up, whose had good mares, it’s easier than a horse who has good horses early then a quiet patch. We saw it with Brave Smash, he had a good first crop, but then an average two or three books, so he went quiet. He’s got the mares now.

“It’s why we've never overpriced our stallions. I never want to go backwards.”

I Am Invincible is still king of the ring

With three Group 1 winners this season, and seven yearlings hitting the $1 million mark or higher, I Am Invincible still reigns at the top of the commercial market. Of his 100 live foals born in 2024, 93 were catalogued for sale, with 71 selling at an average of $559,000 across all nine yearling sales held so far in 2026.

“He's been champion sire three times and has had three Group 1 winners this season. He's had a 2-year-old Group 1 winner, he's won the Newmarket and he's also won the Manikato,” said Mitchell.

Seize The Day won the G1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes in New Zealand, a race also won by I Am Invincible’s recently retired son Move To Strike in 2024. His other two Group 1 winners for this season so far were both $1 million yearlings; Caballus won the G1 Newmarket Handicap, and Charm Stone added the G1 Manikato Stakes to last season’s G1 Robert Sangster Stakes win.

“At Easter and on the Gold Coast, he averaged just a tick under $600,000. He just keeps doing it. He's healthy and happy horse, and his fertility is good. He looks great. He'll go on because he's such a healthy horse. That's probably what makes them so good.

“We're delighted with him and I think at the 200,000 plus GST, he's good value. He's one of the elite stallions in Australia and he’s probably the best type-getter of all of them.”

“He gets a high percentage of stakes winners. He's one of the elite stallions in the world, there's no doubt. And he has been elite for all his career from the time he started. He’s one of our great stallions and I think he'll be looked back on like Danehill and Snitzel, as one of the greats.”

Across his 13 crops of racing age, including this year’s 2-year-olds, I Am Invincible has sired 124 individual stakes winners, with 19 of those at Group 1 level. He’s sired New Zealand Horse Of The Year Imperatriz, Champion 3YO Colts Home Affairs and Brazen Beau and two fillies who earned the Champion 3YO Filly title being In Secret and Loving Gaby.

Gallery: Champion offspring of I Am Invincible

“Now he’s doing very well as a broodmare sire. His sons are doing so well at stud with Home Affairs getting the Golden Slipper winner, and then the next day, Hellbent wins the Hong Kong Derby. It just shows the versatility of his sons, who I think are flying. Even the ones that haven't had huge opportunities have done very well, but certainly with Hellbent and Home Affairs, you probably wouldn't be two hotter young horses going around at the moment,” said Mitchell.

Arthur Mitchell concurred, adding, "if you get a colt, they could go on to produce the next Hong Kong Derby winner like Hellbent, or the next Golden Slipper winner. Remarkably, all 12 of his sire sons with runners have produced winners. We know how difficult it is to buy a stallion, so Vinnie’s colts are a safe bet."

And this is demonstrated in the sales ring where his colts are in high demand.

“He's been a great asset to our farm, and it's just lovely to see his legacy now going on through his sons and his daughters. As he gets older, we have to try and find replacements, and it looks like we found one with Hellbent," said Harry Mitchell.

I Am Invincible has plenty more to come, having served books of 157, 158, and 154 in the past three seasons.

Hellbent steps out of his sire’s shadow

One thing that stands out about Hellbent’s progeny is their longevity. His two first crop Group 1 winners, Benedetta and Magic Time, are still racing as 6-year-olds mares, although retirement has been discussed for both of them recently. Benedetta heads to the Inglis Chairman’s Sale in early May, while Magic Time will likely have her last run in the G1 All Aged Stakes.

“I think we could have stood Hellbent at a higher fee but this is the right price so we can get a good book of mares and people can get a good return,” Harry Mitchell said of the rise from $38,500 to $55,000 including GST for 2026.

“I’m not saying he’s Vinnie just yet, but he's going particularly well, and he didn't cover the stellar mares because he stood at 25 grand. What he's achieved, especially this season, is incredible.

“Hellbent had two Group 1 winners in his first crop, and this year coming off his fifth year, which is always the hardest time for a stallion, he’s had Revengeance win the Golden Gift and Ziplock win the McLachlan Stakes and he started favourite in the Magic Million.”

Of his current juveniles, Revengeance debuted with a third in the G3 Breeders’ Plate, then won the Golden Gift at his second start, while Zip Lock won the G3 BJ McLachlan Stakes before running sixth in the R.Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic as favourite. Hawea is stakes placed in New Zealand, and Cyclotron was second in the Listed Valley Pearl Stakes recently. Chapados is nominated for Saturday’s Listed Redoute’s Choice Stakes, and To Dubai We Go runs in the Listed Fernhill Stakes.

“He’s had Savvy Hallie who won the Silver Shadow, the Light Fingers and ran Tempted to a head in the Surround Stakes. Vivy Air ran third in the Coolmore Classic. Fully Lit coming back and running second to Autumn Glow in the Epsom was a feather in his cap. He was a little horse who was a sharp 2-year-old, and he came back and nearly won an Epsom. It took a champion to beat him.”

Savvy Hallie has been an excellent 3-year-old filly this year, and when she won the G2 Light Fingers Stakes, last season’s good juvenile Sunrays was fourth behind her. Fully Lit won the 2024 R.Listed Inglis Millennium, then missed most of his 3-year-old season. This season at four, he’s added a city win and two group placings, including second to unbeaten star Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) in the G1 Epsom Handicap.

“He's had five Group 1 performers this season, and that's off his hard years. He’s had a nice syndicate behind him, but at that lower level and now that levels risen. The results in the next few years are going to be very interesting.

“They just keep doing it over all distance and all ages. I think the key to that is they are very sound horses. And I think if horses can race on over a period of years, it's a massive advantage for the owner and the trainer and for the stallion himself, because they aren’t one dimensional.

“I just love the versatility of Hellbent and the fact that they've got lovely temperaments and they run a bit further than his father as shown with his Hong Kong Derby winner.”

Hellbent has only had 22 runners in Hong Kong, led by this season’s Listed Hong Kong Derby victor Invincible Ibis who has won five of his ten starts with earnings over HK$23 million (AU$4.2 million).

“I actually still don't think people quite get how good Hellbent is. We think he can be Champion Sire one day and we'll be doing everything in our power to make that happen.

“The last three years, he's had way better mares, especially the last two. The weanlings we have are unbelievable, and the mares in foal to him are an incredible book, and he'll get an even better book this year, because he's going to have a slight rise in the fee. He's warrants it and he deserves it. There’s a lot of blue sky there, because whatever he's doing now, he'll be doing a lot better in a couple of years time.”

Brave Smash to come through his dip

Purchased by a Yarraman Park Stud-led syndicate in 2023, Brave Smash’s oldest progeny off the farm are rising 2-year-olds. He stood in Queensland for his first four seasons, dropping to a fee of $16,500 at his lowest point there. He was purchased by Yarraman Park when Kimochi was a stakes-placed 2-year-old. She rewarded their judgement by adding the G1 Robert Sangster Stakes as an older mare.

“He's coming up for his first crop to race from our syndicate that brought into him, and we're excited to see what happens. They sold well, up to $380,000 and they're in a lot of very good stables. We're expecting him to have a nice surge,” said Mitchell.

“Again, he's a horse proven to get a Group 1 horse in his first crop. And what he did in his first crop was pretty elite. He suffered for numbers for the next few years after that, so he’s going through a quieter patch, but that’s about to change.”

Brave Smash covered 113 mares in his first season at Yarraman Park, and has covered 79 in each of this next two seasons in the Hunter Valley.

“We like him and we think he's going to really come out running with his 2-year-olds later this year. He's got a very strong syndicate around him of people who support him, including Emirates Park and Mount Hallowell Stud, and there's a lot of other people who support him very heavily.

“He's had some nice winners this year and he's got some very nice horses, but it's going to improve. He's had a lot of very handy horses, and he's done well in Hong Kong.”

Divano, second to My Wish (Flying Artie) in last season’s Listed Mile, has the problem facing many good sprinters in Hong Kong. He keeps running into Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) having run against him in three of his last five starts, including third in the Chief Executive’s Cup in September this season.

Brave Design, winner of the 2025 Listed Oxlade Stakes, ran into Group 1 winner Autumn Boy (The Autumn Sun) at his most recent start. Brave Strike, who won on debut at two and placed in the G3 WA Sires’ Produce Stakes, is still racing over in West Australia, while in Victoria, the 3-year-old gelding Brave Danza placed in the Listed TAB Trophy and was most recently seen in the G2 Tulloch Stakes.

Brave Smash has four stakes winners from 124 runners. His progeny are well spread around, pedigree wise, with his four stakes winners having the damsires I Am Invincible, Galileo, Stratum, and Flying Spur.

“We're very happy to stand him here. We've sent a lot of our I Am Invincible and Hellbent mares to him, which is a match made in heaven. Obviously, Kimochi's out of a Vinnie mare. He’s not a big horse, so we send those nice scopey Vinnie mares and we’ve had some very good stock by doing that cross.”

Yarraman’s quest for a new stallion

Harry Mitchell spoke about how difficult the stallion market has been. It’s not just the rise in cost for the very best stallions, but also a scarcity in numbers to find the right sort of horse to suit Yarraman Park’s outlook on life.

“Hellbent and Brave Smash, they both raced in that Weight For Age group, and won Group 1s against hard company. Brave Smash won two Group 1s and placed in four more. Hellbent was around the money in six Group 1s and then he won his Group 1.

“There aren’t many four or 5-year-old colts racing at that level who’ve got the pedigrees and are good types. We feel incredibly privileged to have the stallions we have.

“We have a few fingers in a few pies. We've got a share in Seize The Day who won the Group 1 in New Zealand. He was very impressive. He won by five lengths. He's going to come to Australia in the spring and be aimed at some of those big races. That’s exciting. We bought into the expensive Too Darn Hot horse out of Enbihaar.”

Lot 288 at the recent Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, the full brother to G2 Thousand Guineas Prelude victrix Too Darn Lizzie (Too Darn Hot {GB}), cost $2.2 million to the bid of Watership Down, McKeever Bloodstock, and Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott Racing.

“We'd like a new stallion one day, but we're certainly not rushing into things. I never find rushing works that well.”