What Does it Cost to Breed a Group I Winner?

Tara Madgwick - Sunday Jul 7

Whether you are a commercial breeder or hobbyist with a handful of mares the dream to breed a Group I winner is something everyone shares, so we’ve gone through all the Australian Group I winners this season that were conceived in Australia to see what it cost in terms of fee to produce these stars of the turf.

Pride of Dubai produced two absolutely outstanding mares from his very first crop and stands at a fee of $22,000 this spring.

The first thing we notice is that good horses aren’t confined to being sired by just the obvious expensive stallions and of the 39 G1 winners, 15 of them were sired by stallions that stood for less than $40,000 in the year they were conceived with $2,200 the lowest service fee and that was for Group I MRC Oakleigh Plate winner Queman’s sire Mint Lane (USA).

Another interesting finding is that 17 of the G1 winners were conceived in the first season at stud for their sire and not all were expensive ranging in price from Trapeze Artist at $88,000 and The Autumn Sun at $77,000 down to $11,000 for a quartet of sires Prized Icon, Royal Meeting (IRE), Tassort and Overshare.

For a lot of stallions their first book of mares is the best they ever cover and any success that comes from it can take years to flow through with Pride of Dubai a good example.

Also worth noting Written Tycoon has stood in three states and for a variety of farms over many years, but the rising 22yo was at Woodside Park in Victoria when Southport Tycoon was conceived and at Arrowfield when Lady of Camelot came into being. The first of his Yulong bred stock will be racing next season.

Australian G1 Winners Conceived in Australia 2023/2024

Sorted by fee at conception from most expensive to least expensive with the first season horses first.

G1 Winner	Sire	Fee at Conception	Farm	2024 Fee
Griff	Trapeze Artist	$88,000 first	Widden	$55,000
Autumn Angel	The Autumn Sun	$77,000 first	Arrowfield	$66,000
Vibrant Sun	The Autumn Sun	$77,000 first	Arrowfield	$66,000
Coco Sun	The Autumn Sun	$77,000 first	Arrowfield	$66,000
Pride Of Jenni	Pride Of Dubai	$55,000 first	Coolmore	$22,000
Bella Nipotina	Pride Of Dubai	$55,000 first	Coolmore	$22,000
Broadsiding	Too Darn Hot (GB)	$44,000 first	Darley	NA
Attrition	Churchill (IRE)	$27500 first	Coolmore	$19,800
Magic Time	Hellbent	$27500 first	Yarraman Park	$38,500
Benedetta	Hellbent	$27500 first	Yarraman Park	$38,500
Tom Kitten	Harry Angel (IRE)	$22000 first	Darley	$38,500
Socks Nation	Sioux Nation (USA)	$17,600 first	Swettenham Stud	NA
Veight	Grunt (NZ)	$13,750 first	Yulong	$22,000
Tropical Squall	Prized Icon	$11,000 first	Kooringal Stud	$8,800
Hayasugi	Royal Meeting (IRE)	$11,000 first	Lovatsville (Leneva)	$22,000
Manaal	Tassort	$11,000 first	Newgate	$38,500
Lady Laguna	Overshare	$11,000 first	Widden (Spendthrift)	$5,500
Ozzmosis	Zoustar	$154,000	Widden	$275,000
Joliestar	Zoustar	$154,000	Widden	$275,000
Rediener	Redoute's Choice	$137,500	Arrowfield	Deceased
Imperatriz	I Am Invincible	$110,000	Yarraman Park	$275,000
Southport Tycoon	Written Tycoon	$110,000	Yulong (Woodside)	Private
Cylinder	Exceed And Excel	$88,000	Darley	Retired
Lady Of Camelot	Written Tycoon	$77,000	Yulong (Arrowfield)	Private
Militarize	Dundeel (NZ)	$66,000	Arrowfield	$88,000
Celestial Legend	Dundeel NZ)	$66,000	Arrowfield	$88,000
Riff Rocket	American Pharoah (USA)	$66,000	Coolmore	NA
Fangirl	Sebring	$66,000	Widden	Deceased
Zougotcha	Zoustar	$60,500	Widden	$275,000
Climbing Star	Zoustar	$60,500	Widden	$275,000
Think It Over	So You Think (NZ)	$55,000	Coolmore	$77,000
Alligator Blood	All Too Hard	$55,000	Vinery	$38,500
Overpass	Vancouver	$49,500	Coolmore/ Woodside Park	$9,900
Zapateo	Brazen Beau	$44,000	Darley	$33,000
Dom To Shoot	Shooting To Win	$38,500	Darley / Oakland Park Stud	$11,000
Stefi Magnetica	All Too Hard	$27,500	Vinery	$38,500
Chain Of Lightning	Fighting Sun	$13,750	Sun Stud	Deceased
Bustler	Playing God	$11,000	Darling View Tbreds	$49,500
Queman	Mint Lane (USA)	$2,200	Willow Grove Stud	Retired