The $6,000 Stallion Casting a Long Shadow

While looking for an image of Snippets to go with our celebration of Snippets long form story before Christmas I was drawn to the back of my storage cupboard and there in a remote and dusty corner was a pile of Stallions books and 2001 gave me what I needed and also some serious food for thought.

As I flicked through the still glossy pages of what those in this industry used to see as the bible of stallion talent, I came to a first season sire in Queensland priced at $6,000.

I stopped short… it was Iglesia.

He won three of six starts at two, capturing the Group II STC Silver Slipper before finishing fourth in the Golden Slipper and then missed his entire 3YO season due to injury.

He had a further 14 starts at four and five winning three of them including the Group III VRC Standish Handicap at Flemington when he established a course record of 1.07.16 seconds.

That record set on New Year’s Day in 2001, miraculously still stands.

Iglesia retired to Oaklands Stud and was popular at the bargain basement fee, covering 113 mares and he remained at $6,600 for three more seasons before burgeoning racetrack results from his offspring saw his fee raised to $22,000 for the next two seasons.

Iglesia sadly suffered a premature death at the end of 2006, so we only ever saw a glimpse of what might have been with his overall lifetime stats reading 63.5% winner to runner with 289 winners from 455 starters highlighted by 11 stakes-winners.

Nova Star was his lone Group I winner and his lone Group II winner was Written Tycoon.

Now in his twilight years at Yulong, Written Tycoon was Australia’s Champion Sire for 2020/2021 emulating the achievement of his grand-sire Last Tycoon (IRE), who was Australia’s Champion Sire in 1993/1994, the year before Danehill took over at the top and stayed there.

It seems amazing that the linking sire between two Champion Australian Sires (Last Tycoon and Written Tycoon) should be a $6,000 stallion that stood in Queensland for six seasons, but you can’t argue with the facts.

The story is still unfolding with Written Tycoon’s sire sons such as Capitalist, Ole Kirk, Written By, Rich Enuff and Winning Rupert all producing quality runners, while Group I winning sons Southport Tycoon and Private Life will have their first foals in 2026.

Top Commercial Australian Sires in 2001 - $33,000 and above – worth noting that of the top 19, 13 were bred in the Northern Hemisphere.