Sire Table Snapshot -And Why Black Type Needs an Overhaul

Tara Madgwick - Monday October 28

A few big prizemoney races can skew sire tables, but with so many big prizemoney races on offer at this time of year there is a lot happening in the sire tables and you need a lot more than one big winner to make an impact with some value sires doing some pretty special things.

General Sires

Click for all the sire tables.

Pride of Dubai might have sired Bella Nipotina to win the Everest, but he’s had five stakes-winners in total which is equal to Zoustar and exceeded only by Snitzel, but there is a big difference in the service fees for these three sires!

Pride of Dubai priced at $22,000, Zoustar at $275,000 and Snitzel at $247,500.

Broodmare Sires

Click for all the sire tables.

Fastnet Rock is the reigning champion broodmare sire and will be a short priced favourite to take the title again and had a red letter Saturday siring Via Sistina (IRE) to win the Cox Plate in history making style, while he is also sire of the dam of El Castello, who won the Group I ATC Spring Champion Stakes.

Second Season Sires

Click for all the sire tables.

Darley shuttler Too Darn Hot (GB) setting the pace by winners, stakes-winners and earnings, but will lose his place at the top of the list if Castelvecchio’s star son El Castello backs up to win the Group I VRC Victoria Derby this Saturday which is worth $2million.

Advertisement

Castelvecchio was looking like he was going to struggle for numbers  at the stallion parades in August having covered his smallest book of 86 mares in 2023 and at the end of last season he had the uninspiring  stats of 19 runners for two winners with stakes-placed maiden El Castello the best of them.

Castelvecchio has gone from not to hot!

Fast forward two months and a lot has changed for Castlevecchio, who stands at Arrowfield this spring at a fee of $22,000.

He’s jumped right out of the ground and his lifetime stats are now looking a lot more favourable with eight winners from 36 starters and three of those winners are stakes-winners headed by El Castello.

Castelvecchio is one of the stallions affected by the current Black Type ‘is it or isn’t it’ debacle with his stakes-winner Aeliana winning the Group III ATC Reginald Allen Handicap which is only being recognized as Listed by Arion.

On the other hand his new stakes-winner Double Market has been given the status of a G2 winner for her win at Moonee Valley in a race that was clearly nowhere close to the standard required for a race of that level. Click here to see the race. Just take a look at the past winners of a race that is clearly in decline!

No disrespect to these fillies and their owners, but if we are committed to actually taking a good hard look at Black Type racing in this country then a complete overhaul is required and we need to look at the racing world that we have, not what we had. The modern spring carnival has very little correlation to what was around at the start of this century.

There are new races that deserve to hold Black Type and far too many old rusted on races that need a realistic assessment.

Advertisment
More Reading...
Goffs Orby Day 2 - Trio of Million Dollar Yearling Fillies
The second day of the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale took off overnight with three individual yearlings selling for a million or more with the full sister to dual Group I winning champion 2YO Colt Blackbeard selling for €1.9 million to MV Magnier.
Almanzor Mare Chasing More Black Type
Group Two performer Mary Shan will be in search of an elusive stakes victory when she heads south to Hawera on Saturday where she will contest the Gr.3 Grangewilliam Stud Breeders’ Stakes (1400m).
420k NZ Ready to Run Purchase Looks the Goods
Progressive three-year-old Sulek notched his first victory when landing the MRC Foundation Pin & Win Plate (1400m) at Sandown on Wednesday for trainer Dominic Sutton.
Bryce Bevan Appointed Head of Digital at Magic Millions
Magic Millions' commitment to conduct online thoroughbred auctions has received a huge boost with today's announcement that Bryce Bevan has been appointed as Head of Digital.
Magic Trials at Caulfield Heath
Early season two-year-olds will step out this Thursday, 2 October, at the Caulfield Spring Trials presented by Magic Millions, with 800m 2YO heats following the opening trial for Group performers at 7:30am on the Caulfield Heath.
First Win for Storm Boy Half-Brother by Pierro
Progressive Pierro colt Shangri La Boy is a very different horse to his older half-brother Storm Boy and while that Group winning colt is covering his first book of mares at Coolmore this spring, this fellow is on his way with an impressive maiden win at Rosehill on Wednesday.
Promising Victory For Too Darn Hot’s Ripley
Racing in the same Qatar Bloodstock coloured silks worn to victory on Friday night by West of Swindon (Wootton Bassett) in the Group 2 Stutt Stakes, 3yo Too Darn Hot colt Ripley highlighted his future potential with a two-length maiden victory at Rosehill on Wednesday.
Autumn Glow Epsom Challenge - Just How Big Is This Task?
With the unbeaten Autumn Glow set to run as the first odds-on favourite this century in the Epsom Handicap on Saturday we thought we’d run some data to see how big this mountain is that she’s attempting to climb, and turns out, it’s pretty big.
Swettenham Stud Delighted with Lofty Strike Foals
Swettenham Stud are delighted with the growing buzz of excitement surrounding the first foals for young gun sire Lofty Strike.
2025 G1 The Metropolitan Field and Barrier Draw
Chris Waller and Ciaron Maher are set to have half of the Group I Metropolitan field between them with the Waller trained Birdman an easing favourite after drawing a wide gate for Saturday’s race.