Is This Your Price Point? $49,500 to $55,000

Our Price Point series of stories this week moves to a group of sires that includes a much loved champion sire in the twilight of his stud career, a raft of up and comers and two US Triple Crown winners.

Click here to see stallions priced $110,000 and above.
Click here to see stallions priced from $82,500 to $99,000.
Click to see stallions priced from $66,000 to $77,000.

Four of the sires in this group are first or second season, so we will look at them first and they are all priced at $55,000.

First Season

Darley will offer two champion racehorses in Pinatubo (IRE) and Palace Pier (GB) that are both by highly commercial champion sires in Shamardal and Kingman.

Palace Pier was bought for 600,000 guineas as a yearling at Tattersalls October, so was obviously a great type and then won his only two starts at two before maturing at three to win a pair of Group I mile races, most notably the Royal Ascot St James’s Palace Stakes when he defeated Pinatubo.

He returned at four to win three more Group I mile events including the Royal Ascot Queen Anne Stakes and retired with the impeccable record of nine wins and two placings from 11 starts.

Free of Danehill blood, he comes from a big international Black Type family so has quality pedigree to back up his stellar race performances.

He was Champion European 3YO in 2020 and the Champion Older Male Miler in 2021 and has a Timeform rating of 132.

A Darley homebred, Pinatubo was the undefeated Champion European 2YO colt of 2019 winning six from six with highlight Group I wins in the Newmarket Dewhurst Stakes and Curragh National Stakes.

His four runs at three produced three Group I placings and a win in the Group I Deauville Prix Jean Prat.

Pinatubo was so dominant at two that he earned a Timeform rating of 134.

On the pedigree front, Pinatubo is Danehill free and also holds all the aces being from the same female family as champion sires Invincible Spirit and Kodiac.

Second Season

Two home grown heroes here in Golden Slipper winner Farnan (Not a Single Doubt) and Caulfield Guineas winner Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) that were both well received last year covering 192 mares and 170 mares respectively.

Both are by proven sires of sires here in Australia and both fit the accepted profile for commercial success in this country and are priced in a manner that definitely holds appeal in a market where there are a lot of expensive options to consider.

The remaining Australian sires in this price point are the mighty Lonhro, who turns 24 this year, Champion 3YO’s Justify (USA) and Trapeze Artist, who will have their first Australian runners next season and American Pharoah (USA), whose oldest offspring here are three year-olds.

Justify is a little ahead of Trapeze Artist in having his first runners this year in the Northern Hemisphere and has had a dream start with two exciting debut winners in the past week with Statuette scoring in Ireland and Tahoma successful at Santa Anita in the US.

Below is a ready reckoner of some pertinent facts on these stallions - the stakes-winners are worldwide and date from August 1, 2021.