2024 Busiest Australian Sires by Price Bracket

Tara Madgwick - Monday March 3

The official covering stats released by Australian Studbook this week have made for interesting reading and we’re going through to look at the most popular sires in different price brackets, so apples vs apples and oranges vs oranges.

Most Expensive Sires $66,000 and above -

Home Affairs led the way, unusual for a third season sire.

Zoustar and I Am Invincible shared top honours as the most expensive sires in Australia last spring and both covered outstanding books, Zoustar up by 33 on last year and I Am Invincible pretty much on a par with last year.

Anamoe was the busiest of all the Godolphin sires in both states and had 9 mares less than last year’s 149.

Sire	Mares Covered	2024 Fee	Stud	State
Home Affairs (AUS) 2018	225	82,500	Coolmore Australia	NSW
Pierata (AUS) 2014	199	66,000	Yulong Investments Yulong Stud	Vic
Zoustar (AUS) 2010	188	275,000	Widden Stud Australia Pty Ltd	NSW
Toronado (IRE) 2010	170	88,000	Swettenham Stud	Vic
I Am Invincible (AUS) 2004	158	275,000	Yarraman Park Stud Pty Ltd	NSW
Capitalist (AUS) 2013	155	66,000	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Anamoe (AUS) 2018	140	121,000	Godolphin Australia	NSW
Dundeel (NZ ) 2009	139	88,000	Arrowfield Group Pty Ltd	NSW
Wootton Bassett (GB ) 2008	136	192,500	Coolmore Australia	NSW
Snitzel (AUS) 2002	114	247,500	Arrowfield Group Pty Ltd	NSW
So You Think (NZ ) 2006	105	77,000	Coolmore Australia	NSW
Russian Revolution (AUS) 2013	105	66,000	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Extreme Choice (AUS) 2013	97	275,000	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Street Boss (USA) 2004	75	66,000	Godolphin Australia	Vic
Written Tycoon (AUS) 2002	63	165,000	Yulong Investments Yulong Stud	Vic

Stallions $44,000 to $55,000

Alabama Express led the way with the back of the stellar Yulong broodmare band.

Kia Ora Stud’s Farnan and Vinery Stud’s Ole Kirk remained popular in their often tricky fourth season with the optimism of last spring played out with race track results as both stallions are now riding high on the first season sires list.

Sire	Mares Covered	2024 Fee	Stud	State
Alabama Express (AUS) 2016	223	55,000	Yulong Investments Yulong Stud	Vic
Shinzo (AUS) 2020	218	55,000	Coolmore Australia	NSW
Ozzmosis (AUS) 2020	192	44,000	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Farnan (AUS) 2017	181	55,000	Kia Ora Stallions Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Stay Inside (AUS) 2018	178	55,000	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Ole Kirk (AUS) 2017	172	55,000	Vinery Stud (Australia) Pty Ltd	NSW
Maurice (JPN) 2011	138	55,000	Arrowfield Group Pty Ltd	NSW
Playing God (AUS) 2007	136	49,500	Darling View Thoroughbreds	WA
Cylinder (AUS) 2020	124	44,000	Godolphin Australia	Vic
Trapeze Artist (AUS) 2014	95	55,000	Widden Stud Australia Pty Ltd	NSW
Pinatubo (IRE) 2017	90	55,000	Godolphin Australia	NSW
Pierro (AUS) 2009	87	55,000	Coolmore Australia	NSW
Starspangledbanner (AUS) 2006	74	44,000	Coolmore Australia	NSW
Bivouac (AUS) 2016	73	55,000	Godolphin Australia	NSW
Blue Point (IRE) 2014	69	44,000	Godolphin Australia	Vic

Stallions $33,000 to $38,500

Tassort up from $11,000 to $38,500 and still super popular.

Newgate Farm’s Tassort had a huge fee increase from $11,000 to $38,500 which did nothing to dampen enthusiasm from mare owners and he kept the momentum going after covering 232 mares last year.

Vinery Stud’s Exceedance was a big mover with his 181 mares up sharply on last year’s 103 with broodmare owners obviously deciding he’s doing a good job and if Swiftfalcon keeps going the right way he might have a G1 winner before end of the season.

Sire	Mares Covered	2024 Fee	Stud	State
Tassort (AUS) 2016	218	38,500	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Exceedance (AUS) 2016	181	33,000	Vinery Stud (Australia) Pty Ltd	NSW
Hellbent (AUS) 2012	142	38,500	Yarraman Park Stud Pty Ltd	NSW
Spirit Of Boom (AUS) 2007	132	38,500	Eureka Cambooya Thoroughbreds Pty Ltd	Qld
Harry Angel (IRE) 2014	131	38,500	Godolphin Australia	NSW
All Too Hard (AUS) 2009	117	38,500	Vinery Stud (Australia) Pty Ltd	NSW
Shamus Award (AUS) 2010	109	38,500	Rosemont Stud	Vic
St Mark's Basilica (FR ) 2018	107	38,500	Coolmore Australia	NSW
Brave Smash (JPN) 2013	79	33,000	Yarraman Park Stud Pty Ltd	NSW
Brazen Beau (AUS) 2011	66	33,000	Godolphin Australia	Vic

Stallions at $27,500

If you can't afford Zoustar, then Zousain next best.

With his sire Zoustar now priced in the stratosphere, Widden Stud’s Zousain is marketed as the next best thing which must have resonated as he covered his biggest book with 218 up from 189 last year.

Sire	Mares Covered	2024 Fee	Stud	State
Zousain (AUS) 2015	218	27,500	Widden Stud Australia Pty Ltd	NSW
In The Congo (AUS) 2018	161	27,500	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Jacquinot (AUS) 2019	144	27,500	Widden Stud Australia Pty Ltd	NSW
Better Than Ready (AUS) 2009	140	27,500	Lyndhurst Stud Farm	Qld
Native Trail (GB ) 2019	132	27,500	Godolphin Australia	NSW
State Of Rest (IRE) 2018	111	27,500	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Wild Ruler (AUS) 2017	91	27,500	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Mo'Unga (NZ ) 2017	88	27,500	Newhaven Park Stud	NSW
Star Turn (AUS) 2013	82	27,500	Vinery Stud (Australia) Pty Ltd	NSW
Ghaiyyath (IRE) 2015	79	27,500	Godolphin Australia	Vic

Stallions at $22,000

King's Gambit was super popular first season.

I Am Invincible stallions King’s Gambit (Newgate) and Hawaii Five Oh (Vinery) have a very similar profile, but were priced slightly differently with one at $22,000 and the other at $16,500, but the market saw them virtually the same with one covering 175 mares and the other 173. It’s going to be super interesting to see how their careers play out, so watch this space!

Coolmore based Pride of Dubai is currently leading the Australian General Sires List by earnings and found himself back in vogue this year after a few years in comparative commercial wilderness. For the quality of horses that he can get, Pride of Dubai has no peer in the bang for buck stakes.

Arrowfield Stud were dealt a blow as Castelvecchio had his season cut short through illness, so missed a potential late surge after his 3YO’s started kicking goals, but there’s always next year!

Sire	Mares Covered	2024 Fee	Stud	State
King's Gambit (AUS) 2020	175	22,000	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Pride Of Dubai (AUS) 2012	162	22,000	Coolmore Australia	NSW
Artorius (AUS) 2018	139	22,000	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Admire Mars (JPN) 2016	129	22,000	Arrowfield Group Pty Ltd	NSW
Royal Meeting (IRE) 2016	128	22,000	Lovatsville Pty Ltd	Vic
Lofty Strike (AUS) 2019	115	22,000	Swettenham Stud	Vic
Hitotsu (AUS) 2018	112	22,000	Arrowfield Group Pty Ltd	NSW
King's Legacy (AUS) 2017	112	22,000	Coolmore Australia	NSW
Tagaloa (AUS) 2017	97	22,000	Yulong Investments Yulong Stud	Vic
Grunt (NZ ) 2014	81	22,000	Yulong Investments Yulong Stud	Vic
Written By (AUS) 2015	72	22,000	Widden Stud Australia Pty Ltd	NSW
Benbatl (GB ) 2014	69	22,000	Woodside Park Stud	Vic
Castelvecchio (AUS) 2016	64	22,000	Arrowfield Group Pty Ltd	NSW

Stallions $15,000 to $19,800

Hawaii Five Oh was well received at Vinery.

We touched on Hawaii Five Oh in the previous comment, so let’s focus here on Newgate Farm’s Doncaster winner Brutal, who had just enough smoke last spring to suggest potential fire and a fee drop from $22,000 to $16,500…. Those factors saw him cover 154 mares up from 69 the previous year.

Aquis based Kobayashi is another sire that has come out of the wilderness to cover more than respectable books in his past two years of 135 (2024) and 104 (2023) with his three previous books being 12, 36 and 52. He had eight 2YO winners last season headed by SW Mishani Lily and six the year before while his older horses include stakes-placed Our Kobison and Midnight in Tokyo with all of those runners conceived from either $3,300 or $4,400.

Sire	Mares Covered	2024 Fee	Stud	State
Hawaii Five Oh (AUS) 2019	173	16,500	Vinery Stud (Australia) Pty Ltd	NSW
Brutal (NZ ) 2015	154	16,500	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Lucky Vega (IRE) 2018	141	16,500	Yulong Investments Yulong Stud	Vic
Kobayashi (AUS) 2014	135	15,000	Aquis Farm	Qld
Hanseatic (AUS) 2017	115	16,500	Rosemont Stud	Vic
Panthalassa (JPN) 2017	112	16,500	Yulong Investments Yulong Stud	Vic
Anders (AUS) 2017	98	16,500	Widden Stud Australia Pty Ltd	NSW
King Colorado (AUS) 2020	97	16,500	Widden Stud Victoria	Vic
Russian Camelot (IRE) 2017	96	19,800	Widden Stud Victoria	Vic
D'Argento (AUS) 2014	93	16,500	Watershed Partnership	NSW
North Pacific (AUS) 2017	91	16,500	Newgate Operations Pty Ltd	NSW
Best Of Bordeaux (AUS) 2019	78	19,250	Coolmore Australia	NSW
Nicconi (AUS) 2005	77	16,500	Widden Stud Victoria	Vic
Cool Aza Beel (NZ ) 2017	76	16,500	Newhaven Park Stud	NSW
Shalaa (IRE) 2013	73	19,800	Woodside Park Stud	Vic
Daumier (AUS) 2019	73	16,500	Twin Hills Stud Pty Ltd	NSW
Portland Sky (AUS) 2017	70	19,800	Widden Stud Australia Pty Ltd	NSW
Kermadec (NZ ) 2011	64	16,500	Godolphin Australia	Vic
Yes Yes Yes (AUS) 2016	63	19,250	Coolmore Australia	NSW