Arrowfield Stud's Snitzel has taken out his third successive Champion
Australian Sire title with 180 winners of $24.2 million joining legendary sires
Star Kingdom, Bletchingly, Sir Tristram and Danehill as the only stallions to
win three consecutive Australian General Sires' titles in the past 60 years. (Redoute's
Choice has won three sires titles, but over a nine year period) However, on the score of winners, stakes-winners and wins, Yarraman Park's I Am Invincible has the edge with 184 winners of 301 races with earnings of $17.7 million.
His 184 winners is an Australian record for seasonal winners and his 28 stakes-winners is also a record surpassing the previous joint best of 26 shared by Snitzel and Danehill. Just for good measure, I Am Invincible also took the title of Champion 2YO Sire by winners (27), stakes-winners (8) and earnings of $3.6million.
We expect Snitzel to excel as he has been at the elite level for some time now
and has been covering 200 plus books of mares since 2012, but to see I Am Invincible
right there with him and in some cases proving his superior is eye opening
stuff for a stallion that stood his first four seasons at an $11,000 fee.The Champion First Season sire of 2013/2014 with 15 winners including three stakes-winners, I Am Invincible has been on a steep upward trajectory ever since.
In 2017, I Am Invincible was fourth on the Australian General Sires List with 145 winners (12 stakes-winners) of $12.1 million and in 2018 he was second on the Australian General Sires List with 158 winners (19 stakes-winners) of $15.9 million.
This year, he's upped the ante again and while he didn't quite win the overall title this year, it's hard not to think I Am Invincible can take it further again in 2020 although Snitzel is a formidable rival!
Is it any wonder, I Am Invincible and Snitzel are the two most expensive sires in the country, I Am Invincible fully booked at Yarraman Park at a fee of $247,500 and Snitzel also full at Arrowfield at a fee of $220,000.
The youngest active stallion in the Top 10 is Coolmore's Golden Slipper winner
Pierro, who cracked a century of winners (107) and delivered eight
stakes-winners headed by Group I winners Pierata and Arcadia Queen.Completely free of Danehill blood, the son of Lonhro has really used that to his advantage and having covered big books in his past two seasons promises to be a real force to be reckoned with in seasons to come given his progeny are so versatile and can be effective over a classic trip.
The Champion First and Second Season Sire, Pierro has always had quality partners to help him along the way, but there's no doubting his credentials as a genuinely elite stallion deserving of his $88,000 service fee.
