Australia’s Busiest Sires of 2025 – It’s Official

The Australian Studbook have today officially released covering statistics for the 2025 breeding season detailing all coverings as at March 1, so we’re taking a look at what stallions found favour with the only audience that really counts – broodmare owners!

Top honours were shared by two stallions that each covered 227 mares and have very different profiles.

Coolmore’s bargain priced first season sire Storm Boy hit the target for mare owners at a fee of $16,500, which might surprise a few people, but probably not if you went to the stallion parades and saw him in the flesh.

He might be by Justify (USA), a tall imposing Kentucky Derby winner, but he is all powerhouse sprinter in terms of physique and having won the Magic Millions 2YO Classic, he ticks the box for precocious speed.

We have a chat about the covering stats on this week's Tara Talks Racing podcast.

Yulong is home to the other stallion to cover 227 mares and that’s Redoute’s Choice son Alabama Express, who covered 200 plus mares for the third year in a row at a fee of $66,000.

Alabama Express put his name in lights with Champion 3YO Filly Treasurethe Moment and a flurry of other stakes-winners and they have boosted his popularity in spectacular fashion.

In 2022, he covered just 78 mares at a fee of $22,000, so in theory these foals now two year-olds would be from his weakest book of mares, but the results already include stakes-winning colt Alibaba.

Alabama Express is one stallion that is locked and loaded in terms of what he has in the pipeline to hopefully ensure ongoing success.

Insatiable demand continued for Coolmore young gun Home Affairs, who covered 205 mares and has faced judgement day since this time last year.

He sits at the top of the Australian First Season Sires List by earnings with a stakes quinella last Saturday for fillies Gin Twist and La Gitana following a G1 Blue Diamond placing from his quality colt Guest House.

At this point in time the faith breeders have put in this champion son of I Am Invincible would appear well placed.

Two more first season sires rounded out the top five with Coolmore’s Group I winning Snitzel colt Switzerland covering 194 mares at a fee of $60,500, while Yulong’s Zoustar son Growing Empire, who narrowly missed being a G1 winner, covered 182 mares at $22,000.

In terms of raw ability there was probably not a great deal between these two colts, both of them by champion sires, but there is a considerable difference in service fee.

It’s going to be an interesting watch to see how their stud careers unfold.

Below is the list of all stallions to cover 150 or more mares in Australia in 2025.

We also sorted these by service fee to see the numbers covered by our most expensive sires with the list topped by Wootton Bassett (GB), whose season was cut tragically short when he died on September 23.

Toronado (IRE) also had a limited season due to injury at the start of spring.

As a comparison the below list is for stallions that also covered 150 mares plus in 2024

As always there is change as the bloodstock market can be fickle and what is popular one year may be not so much the next.