Cover image courtesy of Yarraman Park
Eleven stallions have been crowned Australian Champion Sire over the past 20 seasons. Four are still alive, but only three remain active: Zoustar, Written Tycoon and I Am Invincible.
Snitzel secured his fifth title posthumously in 2025/26, succeeding Zoustar, while I Am Invincible won the previous three championships. Written Tycoon claimed the title in 2020/21.
The other stallions to have won during the period are the now-retired Exceed And Excel, and Encosta De Lago, Fastnet Rock, Flying Spur, Lonhro, Redoute’s Choice and Street Cry (Ire).
From humble beginnings
Both Written Tycoon and I Am Invincible stand out among this list of eleven Champions as the only two who didn’t win a Group 1 race. They both began their stud careers at humble fees, giving breeders on a budget plenty of reasons to keep taking a punt at that level.
I Am Invincible contested just one Group 1 race in his career and ran a length second to Champion Sprinter Takeover Target (Celtic Swing {GB}) in the G1 Goodwood Handicap.
Written Tycoon contested two Group 1 races in his career, failing to trouble the judge on both occasions. He was 11th in the G1 Golden Slipper, won by Stratum, and eighth of 13 in the G1 Champagne Stakes won by Carry On Cutie (More Than Ready {USA}).
I Am Invincible | Standing at Yarraman Park
I Am Invincible, or as he’s colloquially known Vinnie, won on debut as a February juvenile, and was third in Forensics (Flying Spur)’s G3 Kindergarten Stakes at his second start. He won at Group 3 level as an older horse in the start prior to his Group 1 second. He retired with five wins from 13 starts and was priced at $11,000 inc GST for his first season in 2010. By his sixth season at stud, he’d hit $55,000 and reached a six-figure fee in 2017. In 2026, he stands for $220,000 inc GST.
Written Tycoon, also a winner on debut at two, won the G2 Todman Slipper Trial Stakes (now known as the Todman Stakes). After his two Group 1 failures, he returned at three to contest five races, all at black type level, placing in the G3 San Domenico Stakes and Listed Satellite Stakes. He retired with two wins from 11 starts. He was popular in first season, in 2007, covering 118 mares at the humble fee of $8,250 inc GST.
Written Tycoon | Standing at Yulong Stud
Dropped to $6600 inc GST for his third and fourth season, he quickly headed on an upward trajectory once his first crop started running. He moved between several studs during the early parts of his career, usually seen as a negative, too. Written Tycoon hit the fee of $49,500 inc GST in season ten, and was six-figures from 2018 onwards. His fee in 2026 is private.
Zoustar’s not so humble pathway
Zoustar has had a journey that would be classed as more typical for a successful stallion. While not an expensive yearling at $140,000, he showed his ability winning his first three starts in a row at two including the G2 BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes. He concluded his juvenile season with a second to Romantic Touch (Northern Meteor) in the G1 JJ Atkins Plate – a result that gave his ill-fated sire the quinella.
At three, he was fourth when resuming, then won three in succession. The G1 Golden Rose, the G2 Roman Consul Stakes and the sire-making G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes. He retired with six wins from nine starts, and was immediately popular covering 184 mares at $44,000 inc GST.
“Zoustar fit every profile and measure that we look for in a stallion. He was by an elite stallion in Northern Meteor, he won the Golden Rose, he won the Coolmore and he had an unbelievable physical quality to him,” Widden Stud’s Matt Comerford said.
Zoustar | Standing at Widden Stud
“He’s in rare air in the sense that he's been able to pass that on to a lot of his progeny and not only are they stunners in sales ring, but they do it on the racetrack. You can be a very good stallion and not have those elite sales horses, whereas Zoustar does that.
“You can be a very good stallion and not have those elite sales horses, whereas Zoustar does that.” - Matt Comerford
“He fits the bill and he has from day one, and he’s carried that on. He was Champion First Season Sire, Champion Second Season Sire, Champion 3-year-old Sire. His accolades epitomised what we thought he could do and more.
“A big thank you needs to be attributed to the people that have supported him too, because they've believed in what we believe in and we've obviously had phenomenal results and huge success with him.
Matt Comerford | Image courtesy of Inglis
“It doesn't go unnoticed for the people that have continued to support him. I don’t think there’s a farm or breeder out there of the highest ilk who haven’t supported him and we’re thankful for that.”
Zoustar has only gone up in fee in his career and hit six-figures in season six when priced at $154,000 inc GST in 2019. He currently stands at $275,000 inc GST.
The Coolmore and Golden Rose winners
Eight of the past ten G1 Golden Rose winners have gone to stud, or technically it’s nine but Militarize (NZ) (Dundeel {NZ}) was gelded and put back into work after being sub-fertile. He has 10 live foals from his only crop, now just turned yearlings. The other is Beiwacht (Bivouac) who is still in training with Chris Waller.
The G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes has been won by seven colts and three fillies in the past ten outings, and all of those colts are at stud. If we are looking to find the next potential Zoustar, no horse since Zoustar has won both races.
Bivouac | Standing at Darley
Champion First Season Sires Ole Kirk who won the Golden Rose and Home Affairs who won the Coolmore have each won one of these two races, while Champion Second Season Sire Bivouac won the Golden Rose.
Of the unproven brigade, breeders could look towards the G1 Golden Rose winners In The Congo, Jacquinot, or Broadsiding. Or over at the G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes victors Ozzmosis, Switzerland or Tentyris.
Need a humble-priced potential rising star?
With Written Tycoon beginning his career at a fee of $8250 inc GST and I Am Invincible equally good value at $11,000 inc GST, can we look for similarly profiled horses in that price bracket to find another potential Champion?
What we want is either a Group-winning juvenile like Written Tycoon who trained on to place at group level at three, or like I Am Invincible we want a horse who is group placed at two and trained on to be a group winner and Group 1 placed. Or a combination of these, since we aren’t being too fussy here and there’s no simple formula for success.
For those who are interested in such things, Written Tycoon’s $8250 fee in 2007 equates to $13,300 in 2026 money according to the Reserve Bank of Australia inflation calculator while Vinnie’s initial fee equates to $16,300.
Breeders in the under $16,500 inc GST realm can take some courage from this.
Sejardan | Image courtesy of Blue Gum Farm
Of the current unproven sires who won the G2 Todman Stakes, like Written Tycoon, and didn’t win a Group 1 race, only the deceased Sejardan fits the profile. All the other winners of the race who are at stud in Australia went on to add a Group 1 race and are priced outside this bracket.
When we look at the unproven sires who fit a similar racing profile to the two Champions who built their own records from a lowly start, there are a few options.
Like Written Tycoon, Best Of Bordeaux was a Group 2-winning two and 3-year-old who stands at $11,000, and like I Am Invincible he went better than Written Tycoon and placed at Group 1 level a couple of times. His oldest foals are 2-year-olds, and he has 76 foals in his first crop.
Best Of Bordeaux | Standing at Coolmore Stud
First season sire Espionage profiles similarly to Written Tycoon as a group-winning juvenile and he’s available at $11,000.
Queenslanders could consider juvenile Group 3 winner Red Resistance who stands for $11,000 and has 79 live foals in his first crop who are yearlings.
Storm Boy, at $16,500, fits these profiles as a group-winning juvenile and Group 1-placed, who trained on to add another group race at three. He served a big book of 225 mares last year and his first foals are arriving this spring.
At $13,750, Diatonic (Jpn) has a profile more like I Am Invincible as he won at group level on multiple occasions as an older horse. His oldest crop are 2-year-olds and there are 87 members in his first crop.
Written Tycoon’s son First Settler won the G2 Danehill Stakes at three and while not a stakes horse at two, he was unbeaten in two starts at that age. He stands for $11,000 and his first foals are being born this spring.
First Settler | Standing at Yulong Stud
Hawaii Five Oh sits in this price bracket at $16,500 but unlike both Written Tycoon and I Am Invincible, he didn’t run at two. He was a G1 Stradbroke Handicap-placed group winner at three which draws some parallels to I Am Invincible.
For breeders in the west, Ingratiating profiles similarly to I Am Invincible, although he did go one better than Vinnie and won a Listed race at two before being a Group 1 placed group winner as a 3-year-old and beyond. He stands for $11,000 and his first crop of yearlings number 75 individuals.
Sweet Ride stands at $11,000, he has a similar race record to I Am Invincible but without the sole Group 1 placing. He has a tougher road ahead of him than many others on this list with 19 live foals in his first crop who are yearlings now.
As a side note: Growing Empire, King’s Gambit, Lofty Strike and Traffic Warden all fit these racing profiles and are all at $22,000 inc GST, which is slightly higher than the under $15,000 bracket we are working with.
None comes with any guarantee, of course. Written Tycoon and I Am Invincible are exceptional precisely because they overcame modest race records, low opening fees and, in Written Tycoon’s case, several changes of stud.
But their careers remain a useful reminder for breeders: the next Champion Sire may be more obvious at $44,000, as Zoustar was, or hiding in plain sight at $11,000.
