Breeding for commercial gain in the sale ring and breeding in order to produce a winner for yourself and your friends to race are two very different things and the latter can be done with good effect for a lot less money, even in the premium breeding states of NSW and Victoria.
For those breeders looking for a proven partner to upgrade their mare there are some very good options priced for less than $10,000 that offer affordability and the real chance of success.
Let’s start with NSW, which is home to Vinery Stud’s Casino Prince, who may well be the best value sire in Australia.
Best known as the sire of All Too Hard, Casino Prince is 18 years old, but let’s put that in context, Snitzel and Written Tycoon are 19, so Casino Prince should not be dismissed as an old man.
Casino Prince gets nearly 70% winners to runners and has left 21 stakes-winners, three of them Group I winners and you can go to him this spring for $5,500.
The commercial breeders have long moved on to newer and fancier horses, but Casino Prince remains rightly popular with breed to race mare owners and covered 90 mares last year.
Other good options in NSW include:
Adelaide (IRE) $5,500, Coolmore- He’s a Cox Plate winning son of Galileo and is the sire of Group I winning mare Funstar, who sold for $2.7million as a broodmare prospect this year.
In reality, he’s not probably not going to make a habit of siring Funstars, but he is going to get plenty of handy staying types that can run a mile and a bit more offering a bit of scope for a breeder with a speedy Danehill line mare.
Denman $8,800 Twin Hills Stud – Group I winning son of Lonhro and true to type being black and beautiful, Denman also gets nearly 70% winners to runners and has left 16 stakes-winners headed by HK G1 winner Hot King Prawn.
If you love Lonhro and Pierro, Denman is the affordable next best thing.
Moving to Victoria there are several good candidates including Bel Espirt, Al Maher and Ilovethiscity.
Bel Esprit $7,700 Widden Stud Victoria – World famous as the sire of Black Caviar, he also tracks at nearly 70% winners to runners and even though he’s now 22, Bel Esprit sired 63 winners last season and covered 57 mares last spring.
Al Maher $8,800 Stockwell Thoroughbreds – Al Maher turned 20 this year and is still going strong with exciting four year-old Private Eye promising to be his fifth Group I winner. He has 65% winners to runners and 5% stakes-winners to runners. As a three-quarter brother-in-blood to Redoute’s Choice, Al Maher represents the very best of bloodlines.
Ilovethiscity $8,800 Noor Elaine Farm – Group I winner by Magic Albert, who is in turn by Zeditave and he is very true to the physical type of the sireline. Started with quite limited numbers, but Group I winning 2YO El Dorado Dreaming was a gamechanger and he now has 61% winners to runners and five stakes-winners in total with an upswing on the cards due to his better books of mares in past three seasons.
Sepoy $4,400 Darley Victoria – This Golden Slipper winner is not listed on the commercial Darley roster, but is available to breeders this spring and while he disappointed as an elite sire, he does run at 65% winners to runners for his Southern Hemisphere bred progeny which include eight stake-winners headed by triple Group I winner Alizee.
Sepoy has quite a good crop of 60 odd 2YO’s including a full sister to Alizee, so if you were a fan and could never afford to go to him when he was a commercial darling, now would be the time to have a crack.
Looking outside of NSW and Victoria, here are a few that are well worth consideration.
Duporth $4,400 and Husson (Arg) $4,400 Aquis Qld – Two Group I sires at a bargain basement fee and both are Danehill free, so perfectly suited to fast Danehill line mares and in the case of Husson, particularly those with Redoute’s Choice blood.
A Group I winning son of Red Ransom (USA) that has had a number of homes after starting life at Kitchwin Hills, Duporth so has not had the benefit of consistent patronage. He does however boast 70% winners to runners and among his seven stakes-winners a triple Group I winner in Hey Doc.
Husson has 64% winners to runners and 17 stakes-winners highlighted by dual Group I winner Lucky Hussler.
Needs Further $8,800 Armidale Stud, Tasmania – Best known as the sire of outstanding Group I winning filly Mystic Journey, Needs Further has done well with his opportunities to date, but covered better books in his past two seasons at a higher fee so has the potential there to improve his statistics which are at present close to 50% winners to runners with five stakes-winners.
By champion sire Encosta de Lago from the family of Zabeel, he’s another affordable sire carrying the very best of bloodlines.
Universal Ruler $8,250 Scenic Lodge Stud, WA – Group III winning son of the late great Scenic (IRE) and has been a bit of a slow burner that has really come of age with good results at the sales this year reflecting his growing success on the track. Has covered 100 plus books of mares the past two years and runs at nearly 60% winners to runners with nine stakes-winners although no G1 winner yet.
