Under the radar: Trapeze Artist’s results start to outrun the market

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

With eight stakes winners this season, led by G1 Australasian Oaks winner Panova, Trapeze Artist is starting to build the kind of record that should force a market reassessment.

His results have moved quickly, but his commercial profile has not moved at the same pace. His 2026 yearlings averaged $75,000, with a top price of $260,000, while his 2026 fee has eased to $27,500 inc GST. For breeders and buyers prepared to look past sales-ring fashion, that gap between performance and perception is becoming the story.

“It’s an impressive season that he's had. He’s had a lot of depth in his 2-year-old crop as well. He’s showing the ability of what he’s able to do. To have the three stakes winning 2-year-olds this season is huge and then is bolstered by his older progeny who keep ticking along. Panova was a huge highlight winning the Oaks and Pinito has come out and won a Group 3 this year,” said Widden Stud’s Matt Comerford.

That tension sits at the centre of Trapeze Artist’s current position. He is no longer a young sire being assessed only on promise, but nor has he been fully embraced commercially as a proven source of stakes horses.

It’s all about perception

Trapeze Artist’s oldest foals are 5-year-olds and he has six individual stakes winners from that first crop, led by G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Griff who stands at Larneuk Stud in 2026 for $7700 inc GST.

“He's always had reasonably good results. But there’s that perception versus service fee versus what he did himself at the racetrack. He gets judged a bit differently to a horse that comes out of nowhere,” Comerford said.

“Hats off to Snitzel, who has been a phenomenal stallion and he’s been Champion Stallion and will be again this year. If you look at the comparisons of crops at a similar age, there’s very little between Trapeze Artist and Snitzel.”

In total, Trapeze Artist has 12 career stakes winners and 156 winners from 264 runners, striking at 59%. His record includes two Group 1 winners. At the same stage of his career, his sire Snitzel had 15 stakes winners, headed by G1 JJ Atkins Plate winner Sizzling.

“It's exciting to see what he's got coming through. He’s got good solid crops of mares coming through in the next few years, and if one compares his service fee now to others who are current and active on the sire’s list, he looks incredible value.

“They are in the right stables. Ciaron Maher has Piggyback and Spicy Miss, Chris Waller has Panova and Pinito.”

Proven finds value in familiar families

Proven Thoroughbreds’ interest in the stallion has not been theoretical. This year, the syndicator bought the full brother to Griff and the full sister to Pinito, adding to a Trapeze Artist group that already includes Listed Wagga Wagga Gold Cup winner Flying Bandit.

“This year we bought the full brother to Griff who was a very tidy individual. A better type than his full brother who was a Group 1 winner and I was pleasantly surprised with what we had to pay for him,” Proven Thoroughbreds’ Jamie Walters said.

“Kerry Parker will be training him. The other one we bought was a full to Pinito from Waltzing Wodka, and her full sister has won a few times at stakes level now. Godolphin bought Pinito for $260,000.”

“She’s a big raw staying horse and Charlotte Littlefield will train her. We were happy to get her and only paid $100,000 for her.

“I've bought a lot of the Trapeze Artists over the years. They were pretty sexy in his first season, like most first season sires, and then they lost their way for a couple of seasons. Trapeze Artist seems to be getting more milers than sprinters and as a consequence they're better off with time.

“It suits us. We had the Wagga Cup winner by Trapeze Artist, called Flying Bandit. He’s trained by Kerry Parker and he was a great big horse that we bought cheaply in Adelaide that we wanted to give time to and that seemed to work.”

Flying Bandit was a $20,000 purchase from Widden Stud’s Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale draft, and he now has six wins and over $380,000. He has run in the Listed Wagga Wagga Gold Cup twice, winning in 2025 and third this year.

High expectations from the start

Trapeze Artist’s commercial expectations were high from the start. A brilliant son of Snitzel, he won four Group 1 races from three to four, after showing early talent at two.

He entered stud at $88,000 and covered 180 mares in his first season. Since then, his fee has stepped down gradually, with his 2026 price set at $27,500 inc GST.

“To some degree, he's probably outpriced himself in where he falls in that marketplace, and obviously (owner) Bert Vieira has been in a fortunate position to support the horse incredibly well.

“It’s exactly what he always wanted to do and what we wanted him to do, and his marketability at the current service fee now is outstanding. He gives everyone a really good opportunity to breed to him,” Comerford said.

“We’ve also learned how to breed to him better, which is an important factor commercially, so we’ve seen more consistent, better types from him,” Comerford said.

“On the racetrack, it hasn’t really mattered what mares we’ve sent him because he’s effective at getting runners at different distances. He can get 2-year-olds, an Oaks winner and a Guineas winner.

“But from a commercial point of view, sending him a short-coupled, stylish mare definitely benefits the type that he throws. He’s a beautiful, big, strong horse with power and quality, and he leaves substance in them. If you send a mare that already has a lot of size and substance, you can get a bigger horse that takes a bit more time. They perform on the track, but the commercial element is important.”

Trapeze Artist’s three juvenile stakes winners this season are G2 Sweet Embrace Stakes winner Spicy Miss, G3 Widden Stakes winner Chilly Girl, and R. Listed Inglis Nursery Stakes victrix Where’s The Circus.

Patience turns into a buying strategy

For Proven Thoroughbreds, the fact that Trapeze Artist has a reputation for siring horses that take a bit more time is the same reason they are attracted to buying his progeny.

“Our philosophy with most of our trainers is to give horses time. We haven’t got the wherewithal to compete at the high 2-year-old end of the market, which is increasingly becoming the domain of the big players,” Walters said.

“At the middle (of the market), you’ve got to be patient because what you’re buying doesn't look like you can throw a saddle on it tomorrow. A fashionably bred, attractive, mature looking yearling is going to demand a lot more money.

“So we are compromising a little on waiting on a horse, hoping that they’ll grow into the shape you want them to. And the risk you take when paying those value prices is that they never grow.

The economics of waiting have also shifted. With races such as The Everest and The Quokka helping reshape the prizemoney available to mature sprinters and middle-distance horses, buyers are not relying solely on early 2-year-old returns.

“There’s so much money and so many attractive races for older horses now. The money is phenomenal with all the infrastructure of races around The Everest. Historically we’ve had a lot of money for older staying horses but breeding has veered into 2-year-old racing and sprinters in the last 40 years.

“With Trapeze Artist, we’ve bought maybe eight or 10 in recent years. I saw an opportunity with him in terms of value because he very quickly went out of fashion and that created opportunity. He’s having a stellar season and hopefully it continues.

“His horses seem to train on and he's pretty good value. We like identifying horses like that.”

With only two of his six crops numbering under 100 foals, Trapeze Artist has plenty of opportunities to keep siring winners and as they improve with age, he might not stay under the radar for too much longer.