Ole Kirk receives bump to $110,000 as Vinery release 2026 fees

Cover image courtesy of Vinery Stud

After revealing that Kia Ora Stud’s stallions Farnan and Captivant, as well as this season’s G1 Oakleigh Plate winner Tropicus, would be joining the roster in 2026, Vinery Stud have unveiled their services fees for their nine-strong team of stallions.

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Lot 440 Quintessa in the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale

“We are delighted with the line-up we are able to offer breeders this year,” said Vinery’s General Manager Adam White. “There is truly something for everyone at every level, and we are excited to see what the future holds for the 2026 roster.”

Table: Vinery Stud's 2026 stallion service fees, inclusive of GST

The second season headliners stay in demand

Second season sires Ole Kirk and Farnan finished their first season of juveniles as two of the top sires in the crop - the former anointed Champion First Season Sire and the latter the leading sire of winners and stakes performers - and they have continued on similar trajectories into their second year.

Farnan is currently second by prizemoney only to Ghaiyyath (Ire), with less than $40,000 separating them, and is the joint top second season sire of winners, tied at 39 with Wootton Bassett (GB). Ole Kirk is hot on his heels in second spot with 38 winners, and sits fifth by prizemoney.

Having sired more stakes-winning 2-year-olds in his first crop than the previous 10 Champion First Season sires, Ole Kirk’s individual stakes winner record has stretched to five, led by G1 One Thousand Guineas winner Ole Dancer.

His progeny have struck at a rate of 6.5% stakes winners to runners, and the market’s appreciation of this was reflected in his sales results, setting himself a new high water mark with an average of $208,587 and a median of $150,000. His top colt and filly lots for the 2026 sales season both sold for $550,000.

In recognition, his fee lifts to $110,000 (inc GST) for the coming breeding season.

“With the announcement this week of the consolidation of the Kia Ora and Vinery rosters, we are entering such an exciting time with our emerging roster of stallions,” said White.

“Both Ole Kirk and Farnan continue to demonstrate they are two young stallions on the rise, with both stallions covering their strongest books yet and are set to prove themselves as vital stallions to our industry going forward.”

Seven of Farnan’s 10 stakes horses were stakes performed as juveniles, and all of his five stakes winners have struck at Group level. Ninja flew his sire’s flag the highest at the end of summer with wins in the G3 Vo Rogue Plate and the G2 Hobartville Stakes, and most recently his daughter Profoundly took out the G3 Adrian Knox Stakes before running second to the high calibre Ohope Wins (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}) in the G1 Australian Oaks.

In the sales ring this year, his offspring fetched up to $340,000 with an average of $132,840, with return purchasers including MyRacehorse, syndicators of Ninja, Anthony Freedman, Dynamic Syndications, and Peter Moody.

His fee will remain the same in 2026 as he joins the Vinery roster from Kia Ora Stud, standing at $77,000 (inc GST).

“They are both doing a terrific job again this season and both the Vinery and Kia Ora Stud teams are thrilled to have them here,” White said. “Many of the top line stallions are reaching possibly the twilight of their careers now, so to have two up and coming horses on a roster of the calibre of Ole Kirk and Farnan is something we are very thankful for.

“If they can keep heading in the direction that we strongly believe they're going in, it will be fantastic not only for us, but for Kia Ora, who will be utilising them both as well.”

Youngest trio offer real value

G1 Oakleigh Plate winner Tropicus’s arrival on the roster was heralded on Wednesday, and the son of Too Darn Hot (GB) will enter the Vinery stallion barn at a fee of $27,500 (inc GST).

A homebred for Kia Ora Stud out of four-time winner and G3 Summoned Stakes-placed Extensible (Exceed And Excel), Tropicus notched victories in the G3 Zeditave Stakes and the G3 Heath Stakes en route to his Group 1 victory, a race also won by the likes of Snitzel, Starspangledbanner, and Fastnet Rock.

His top flight victory comes with additional merit, having been achieved carrying the heaviest winning weight since 1973 and recording the highest winning rating in the past decade. He remains the only Too Darn Hot offspring to achieve a Timeform rating above 120 at a distance of 1200 metres or less.

“Tropicus is already attracting strong support in his first season,” White said. “As a Group 1-winning sprinter by Too Darn Hot, he offers breeders access to an exceptional sire line and profiles as a horse capable of producing early runners.”

Dual Group 3-winning and Group 1-performed Hawaii Five Oh will have his first weanlings go under the hammer in the coming weeks. The son of I Am Invincible has 122 foals on the ground in his first crop, eight of which will be offered at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale next week and 16 have been catalogued for the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale on May 24.

A similarly large book patronised him in his second year, and he will stand his third season for the same fee of $16,500 (inc GST). White shared that the team is looking forward to seeing how those first foals are received by buyers.

“We have got a good number of them at home and we have been really happy with their development,” he said. “He's a good sized horse and he's very much like his father I Am Invincible.

“We have had quite a few I Am Invincible foals on the farm and I really think that he is producing a similar type of horse. They're just really well balanced, good muscled horses, and they have lots of quality, and that's always a good sign.

“We knew we're in a good position during the season when his first foals were hitting the ground, a lot of breeders around the place were getting foals that they were really pleased with and mares were starting to come back to him off the back of those foals.”

With his first batch of 2-year-olds at the track this season, G1 Champagne Stakes winner Captivant takes a reduction in fee to $11,000 (inc GST) as he prepares to enter his first season at stud. His juveniles have been led by Vantorix, who has been unbeaten in two starts for Jenny Graham, having debuted against the older horses. It is expected that he will continue his campaign in Brisbane during the Queensland carnival.

All Too Hard leads stallion barn stalwarts

Having long been the cornerstone of the Vinery roster, All Too Hard will retain his fee of $27,500 (inc GST) in 2026. He has delivered 90 winners and over $7.1 million in prizemoney so far this season, with his four individual stakes winners led by his dual Group 1-winning daughter Stefi Magnetica, who added the $2 million The Invitation to her record in the spring, alongside third in the G1 Cantala Stakes.

All Too Hard has produced two of the most exciting juveniles this season with Listed Talindert Stakes winner Hard Kick and G3 Black Opal Stakes winner Music Time, who went on to run third to Guest House (Home Affairs) in the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes. Their exploits brings his cumulative stakes winners to 33, with a further 35 stakes performers for a strong ratio of 7.8% stakes horses to runners.

“If he wasn’t already considered one of the best value stallions in the country, All Too Hard has certainly confirmed it this season,” said White. “His consistency, toughness, and ability to produce quality performers year after year sets him apart.”

The sire of three Group winners this season to take his total stakes winners to six, Exceedance takes a small reduction in his fee to $22,000 (inc GST) for his seventh season at stud. His season to date has been highlighted by Vinery-raised Cristal Clear, who won the G2 Ajax Stakes the week after his half-sister Sass Appeal (So You Think {NZ}) won the G2 Kewney Stakes.

“He’s had a terrific season,” White said. “He gets a lot of respect out there, and he has had a lot of Saturday city winners as well, which I think is always a good sign that a stallion is consistently doing a fantastic job with his offspring. They seem to be training on as well, which is always a good sign that they aren’t one dimensional.”

Dance To The Boom and Pure Excess have added to this with their own victories, the former emerging triumphant in the G3 Hong Kong Jockey Club Stakes and the latter breaking her duck in the G3 Champion Fillies Stakes. Exceedance has amassed 52 winners in Australia so far this season, a number that includes sharp juveniles She’s Extra, Hard To Exceed, and I’m A Beaut.

“He's had a couple of really talented 2-year-olds pop up this year, which is great, particularly given the fact that he didn't make his debut until the July of his 2-year-old year,” White said. “He's had another really good year in the sale ring where we have sold them for up to $300,000.

“We're just pulling back to the $20,000 mark just because he's a very fertile horse and he's got good numbers coming through for him. His largest crop are weanlings now, so we just wanted him to be really competitive in that $20-30,000 range, and I'm sure he is going to be well utilised at that figure.”

Star Turn will also take a small fee reduction to $11,000 (inc GST). He continues to be a consistent producer of winners for breeders both on home soil and overseas, with 10 Hong Kong winners to date and a strike rate of 70% winners to runners. His Hong Kong horses are highlighted this season by Storming Dragon, whose earnings for the season sit at over HK$2.6 million ($470,000).

During the 2026 sales season, his have yearlings sold up to $300,000 and his juvenile daughter Auric Star was last seen charging home from the back of the pack to take second in the Listed Calaway Gal Stakes.

Headwater rounds out the roster with a small reduction to a fee of $5500 (inc GST) in 2026. The sire of 19 stakes horses to date and five millionaires, his 66 Australian winners so far this season have been highlighted by Listed Pinjarra Classic winner London’s Image, who has amassed four further stakes placings this season and extended her winning record to seven earlier in April when winning the $100,000 Marjorie Charleson Classic for Grant and Alana Williams.

He also has achieved nine winners in Hong Kong, led by Sight Hermoso who has earned HK$4.4 million ($790,000) this season alone.