Cover image courtesy of Inglis
We have examined what stallions produced the best return on investment for breeders at the yearling sales this year, but who has been the biggest market movers in terms of desirability?
Extreme results dominated the headlines at the recent Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, but there have been a few sharp improvers who have been rewarded for reaping the results on the track.
Observing the top 10 improvers who have had 10 or more of their yearlings sell through the ring so far this year, the spread crosses the whole breadth of fees and performances.
| Extreme Choice | $ 477,576 | $ 858,750 | $ 381,174 |
| Ghaiyyath (Ire) | $ 74,850 | $ 178,966 | $ 104,116 |
| Zoustar | $ 464,201 | $ 544,649 | $ 80,448 |
| Harry Angel (Ire) | $ 100,481 | $ 178,979 | $ 78,497 |
| Castelvecchio | $ 94,783 | $ 159,375 | $ 64,592 |
| Alabama Express | $ 127,955 | $ 191,272 | $ 63,318 |
| The Autumn Sun | $ 191,765 | $ 253,579 | $ 61,814 |
| Street Boss (USA) | $ 181,522 | $ 242,647 | $ 61,125 |
| Hellbent | $ 102,094 | $ 157,358 | $ 55,264 |
| Kermadec (NZ) | $ 69,542 | $ 117,769 | $ 48,228 |
Table: Top 10 sires (10 or more yearlings sold) by increases to yearling sales average in 2026
Opposites attract
The two stallions who saw the greatest improvement in their yearling sale averages - and the only two with six figure increases to their averages - come from quite different spots on the fee spectrum. Extreme Choice, who commanded a fee of $275,000 (inc GST) in 2023, and Ghaiyyath (Ire), who stood for $27,500 (inc GST) the same year, are stallions who appeal to very different demographics.
G1 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Extreme Choice’s meteoric rise from small foal crops has meant that his offspring have never been in hotter demand than they were this year. From a crop of 44 foals in 2024, 28 were sold this year, and seven sold for seven figures at Inglis Easter to realise a sale average of $1.56 million, the second highest in the sale’s history.
His average yearling price came close to doubling from 2025 to 2026, with an increase of $381,174, and the average itself - $858,750 - is 3.4 times his service fee (removing GST, as sales prices are without GST).
Extreme Choice | Standing at Newgate Farm
It is a continual recognition for his progeny’s racetrack talents that saw Extreme Choice realise a new personal best colt and filly price at Inglis Easter, where he topped the sale with a $3 million colt out of dual Group 2 winner Pretty Brazen (Brazen Beau).
While Extreme Choice has proven he can produce across all distances, it is his sprinters that are his biggest drawcard. Of his 37 winners so far this season, four are stakes winners and all at Group level, led by G1 Flight Stakes victress Apocalyptic. Amongst his current crop of 2-year-olds, three have run and all are winners, including two Group winners Hidrix and Paradoxium.
Second season sire Ghaiyyath comes from a very different place, having been brought to Australia to breed Godolphin a Derby winner. He delivered just that with his first 3-year-olds in the spring when Observer won the G1 Victoria Derby and subsequently the G1 Australian Guineas this autumn. Storm Leopard, Freedom Flame, Different Gravy, and Yum have also flown the flag at stakes level for their sire this season.
Ghaiyyath (Ire) | Standing at Darley
Ghaiyyath’s name was relatively unknown at the 2025 yearling sales, recording just two winners amongst his first round of juveniles, but that changed in 2026 where 29 of his yearlings sold for more than double their 2025 average, with an increase in average of $104,116. The average itself, $178,966, is 7.16 times his service fee. A son out of a close relation to G1 Herbie Dyke Stakes winner Valley Girl (NZ) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) topped the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale at a price of $625,000.
It is not yet known whether Ghaiyyath will shuttle again this year, but it would be prudent to believe that he might be in high demand, given that five of his 11 stakes winners to date are Australian.
The great Godolphin year
Following on from Ghaiyyath’s rise in popularity, the top 10 includes three other horses on the Darley roster, representing the full breadth of what they have to offer in between their two Australian bases.
Shuttler Harry Angel (Ire) experienced his fee doubling from 2022 to 2023, when the current yearlings were conceived, from $16,500 (inc GST) to $33,000. It has since risen again to $66,000 in recognition of his progeny such as Tom Kitten, Private Harry, Angel Capital, Arkansaw Kid, and War Machine. The market responded accordingly to those runners’ exploits on the track, and his average increased from just above the $100,000 mark to $178,979, 5.97 times his service fee at the time.
From Harry Angel’s 21 stakes winners to date, seven have been in Australia, but that number incorporates all four of his Group 1 winners and both his Group 2 winners as well. He ended last season as seventh on the general sires’ list in Australia and has matched his six stakes winners from 2024/25 already this season, with still a few months of stakes races left to go.
Harry Angel (Ire) | Standing at Darley
It could be that one day Harry Angel joins Street Boss (USA), another great improver on sales averages, as a permanent resident of the Australian Darley roster if his performers continue on the same trajectory.
Street Boss has posted a remarkable season, with high class 2-year-olds Tempted and Tentyris continuing to score - the former easily taking out the G2 Arrowfield 3YO Sprint at the weekend - and Closer To Free winning the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (colts & geldings) before running second in the Diamond itself.
He has also recorded three new Group 1 winners this autumn; Tempted finally got her laurels in the G1 Surround Stakes and Pericles also scored in the G1 Futurity Stakes, while Green Spaces kicked off April with the G1 Australian Derby.
Street Boss (USA) | Standing at Darley
Street Boss’s 2023 service fee was $66,000 (inc GST) and his averages rose by that amount year on year in 2026, with a rise of $61,125 bringing his sales averages to $242,647, which is just a tick over four times that service fee.
Kermadec (NZ) rounds out the Darley quartet who have seen huge improvements in demand in 2026, and also stood for the lowest fee in 2023 amongst the top 10. He has remained a value sire at $16,500 (inc GST), and the resulting 2024 crop was one of his largest to date, with 81 foals born.
His sale average jumped from a modest $69,542 to $117,769 in 2026 for 13 yearlings sold, returning 7.85 times his service fee. A highlight of his sales season was a new personal record price of $625,000, paid at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale by Astute Bloodstock (FBAA) and Ciaron Maher Bloodstock for a filly out of G2 Let’s Elope Stakes winner Turaath (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) - a price paid by Astute’s Louis Le Metayer for a filly he believed could be truly top class.
Kermadec (NZ) | Standing at Darley
Kermadec is on track to exceed last year’s winners from a smaller pool of runners, and while he hasn’t recorded a stakes winner this year in Australia, 3-year-old Missy Aggravation has been flying his flag in Tasmania, running solid placings in the Listed Strutt Stakes and the Listed Tasmanian Oaks.
A justified fee hike
Hellbent jumps into the top 10 ahead of Kermadec, and breeders who paid the fee of $38,500 (inc GST) in 2023 have been well rewarded as the Yarraman Park Stud’s resident has continued to grow his considerable record on home turf and in Hong Kong. His sales average leaped by 50% from 2025 to 2026, sitting at $157,358 this year - 4.45 times his service fee.
The difference in average is almost exactly what his fee has been lifted to for 2026, where he will stand for $55,000 (inc GST) after another season of top line results. While his elite daughter Benedetta is bound for a sales ring swan song, Magic Time continues to perform at the top.
The baton passes to horses like 3-year-old Savvy Hallie, who is now a Group 2 winner in both the spring and the autumn with earnings just shy of seven figures, Group 1 performer Vivy Air, and recent Listed Hong Kong Derby winner Invincible Ibis. G3 BJ McLachlan Stakes-winning juvenile Zip Lock put the writing on the way that Hellbent can produce a good 2-year-old as well.
Hellbent | Standing at Yarraman Park Stud
So far this season, Hellbent has recorded four stakes winners in Australia alone and currently sits eighth by earnings in the general sires’ tables, his highest placement to date after finishing 14th in the 2024/25 season. He has hit double digits in Hong Kong winners, and the jurisdiction featured heavily among his buying bench for this year.
It is all of these factors, borne from modest service fees - his current 2-year-olds were conceived on a $22,000 fee - that have led the Mitchells at Yarraman Park to lift the fee for the heir apparent of I Am Invincible. If this is what he can produce from a modest base, what can he do with a higher quality book?
Recognition of quality
The final four top improvers are all the sorts of horses who continue to deliver year on year, which has since been recognised in rises to their service fees.
Zoustar, selling his first crop borne off of a $220,000 service fee in 2026, reported a lift of $80,448 in his yearling sales average this year, which is four times the increase between his 2022 and 2023 service fee. His 2026 average of $544,649 returns 2.7 times his then-service fee, which rose to $275,000 in 2024.
Joliestar has been Zoustar’s constant reminder of his best, but she hasn’t been the only star. The stallion recorded a stakes treble on April 4 when Plaintiff won the G3 PJ Bell Stakes, Zoupurring won the Listed Railway Stakes, and Joliestar topped off her Royal Ascot preparations with the TJ Smith Stakes.
Zoustar | Standing at Widden Stud
After being crowned Champion Australian Sire in 2025, Zoustar currently sits third behind The Autumn Sun and Snitzel, and has been in the top five finishers since 2023. With books conceived on increasing service fees still to come, there could well be another Champion Sire title in his future.
Castelvecchio, Alabama Express, and The Autumn Sun all reported an increase in sales averages between $60,000 and $65,000 in 2026, which certainly recognises the kinds of horses they have been producing. In 2023, there was yet to be the likes of Aeliana (NZ) (Castelvecchio) or Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express) to put their sires in the spotlight. The Autumn Sun’s groundbreaking trifecta in the G1 Australasian Oaks with Vibrant Sun, Coco Sun, and Private Legacy did not occur until the winter of 2024.
The former two stallions have since had their prowess recognised with fee increases, and the aforementioned fillies are far from their only stars.
Castelvecchio | Standing at Arrowfield Stud
Castelvecchio - whose 2026 average of $159,375 is 6.38 times his 2023 service fee - had six stakes winners last season including two Group 1 winners. Aeliana is now a triple Group 1 winner after taking out the G1 Tancred Stakes and G1 Ranvet Stakes back to back, and Verona Rose lifted to the occasion of the G2 Guy Walter Stakes in February. Arrowfield Stud lifted his fee to $49,500 (inc GST) in 2025, almost double the $27,500 (inc GST) his current yearlings were conceived at.
Alabama Express was elevated to $66,000 (inc GST) in 2025 and served the joint biggest book in the country with 227 mares visiting him at Yulong. His 2023 fee was just $22,000 (inc GST), meaning that his $191,272 sales average in 2026 was by and large a great return for breeders, being 9.56 times his service fee at conception.
Four-time Group 1 winner Treasurethe Moment has been his banner horse, but Alabama Lass has flown his flag in New Zealand, and this season he added a second juvenile stakes winner with the precocious Alibaba, winner of the Listed Blue Diamond Preview (colts & geldings). On the weekend, he secured a third stakes winner for the season with Listed Port Adelaide Guineas winner McWoody to bring his career total to six.
Alabama Express | Standing at Yulong
Of course, Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) has been her sire’s pinup star this season, but just like Joliestar, she isn’t the only one. Autumn Boy has put himself en route to a stud career after emulating his father in the G1 Caulfield Guineas and the G1 Rosehill Guineas, while Autumn Break and Autumn Mystery have brought his stakes winners count up to 11.
Country Championships winner Know Thyself took his record to eight wins and over $1.3 million in prizemoney this season, and is among a further 11 stakes performers for the sire. The number also includes After Summer, who came within a lip of being her sire’s sixth Group 1 winner in the G1 Vinery Stud Stakes.
The Autumn Sun missed the 2024 breeding season due to injury, meaning he will be conspicuously missing from next year’s yearling sales, but he served his biggest book ever in 2025 and the depth of his stock was well appreciated in 2026. His sales average jumped over the $200,000 mark for the first time, sitting at $253,579 - 4.2 times his 2023 service fee of $66,000 (inc GST).
The Autumn Sun | Standing at Arrowfield Stud
He has stood at the same fee every year aside from his debut season, but after the season he has had, it is unlikely The Autumn Sun will ever be so cheap again.
