The arrivals and departures: what’s changed in the Queensland stallion scene this season?
This article first appeared in The Thoroughbred Report Australia and New Zealand on July 30th 2024
The Thoroughbred Report takes a look at the stallions new to Queensland, those who are absent, and those who have received significant fee increases.
Queensland’s first season sires
The Danehill (USA) sireline is well-represented amongst Queensland’s new stallions for 2024; Hopetown Farm welcoming Snitzel’s G3 Breeders Plate winner Empire Of Japan, Telemon Stud adding Russian Revolution’s G3 Canonbury S. winner Red Resistance to its roster and Eureka Stud standing the Group 1-placed Extreme Choice horse Don Corleone.
A $680,000 graduate of the 2022 Magic Millions, Empire Of Japan showed good talent in his short career, one which kicked off with an easy Breeders Plate victory and which saw him run very good races in the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic and the G1 Golden Slipper S. in which he was a close up fifth.
One of Snitzel’s 145 stakes winners, he is a son of the G2 Magic Night S. and triple Listed winner Ichihara (General Nediym) from the family of the grand campaigner Tie The Knot (Nassipour {USA}).
And he is a horse who has Hopetoun Farm’s Murray Webster excited.
“He has been here for a few months and turned up in amazing condition,” he enthused.
The best looking horse I’ve laid eyes on
“He is a beautiful horse, in fact I’d say he is the best looking horse I have laid eyes on. And he is very quiet, he has a wonderful temperament.”
“He is the sort of horse who is going to sell himself, when people see him they are going to want to send mares to him.”
To that end Webster has Empire Of Japan parading at Toowoomba on Saturday, confident that he will secure more bookings with the young horse already proving popular.
“I’d been looking out for a stallion and thinking about what sort of horse I’d like and I could not have done better than Empire Of Japan,” Webster said.
“We are just a few kilometres down the road from Eureka and there a lots of lovely Spirit Of Boom mares around who I think will be the perfect fit for him.”
“His dam is by General Nediym who did so well in Queensland and he has those Without Fear genes that Spirit Of Boom loves so much.”
A nicely stamped horse
Eureka Stud also have a new boy this year, Harry McAlpine noting that Don Corleone is also a very nice fit for Spirit Of Boom mares.
“You have to stand a stallion whose pedigree works with stallions you have stood,” he said, “and we think that Don Corleone is such a horse.”
And a nice match for Queensland mares in general, being a son of Extreme Choice out of the speedy stakes-placed Snippetson mare Snipzu.
Bred on a powerful 4 X 4 cross of the terrific mare Easy Date (Grand Chaudiere {Can}), Don Corleone was a $650,000 weanling, the most expensive Extreme Choice sold in 2021.
And what a great job that horse has done despite his issues, siring 12 stakes winners and three Group 1 winners amongst his first 68 winners with his sons, such as his G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Stay Inside, already proving popular at stud.
“He is a bit bigger than his sire and is nicely stamped with the rich colouring of his grandsire Not A Single Doubt,” McAlpine said.
“He is a sharp, 2-year-old looking type which was the sort of horse we were looking for and he has been well received.”
“A horse with his profile and his looks is always going to get good support,” he said.
A Golden Slipper hopeful heads to Telemon
One of the 11 stakes winners for his G1 Oakleigh Plate and G1 Galaxy-winning sire Russian Revolution, Red Resistance created a good impression in a short time, winning his first two starts for his successful owner/breeder Sir Owen Glenn of Go Bloodstock.
His second win came in the G3 Canonbury S. in which he defeated King’s Gambit and Shinzo who both retire to the Hunter Valley this spring. Things looked on target for the G1 Golden Slipper S. in which he was well-fancied only to have a high temperature force his withdrawal that morning.
With Go Bloodstock supporting him with mares as will other shareholders and Telemon, Red Resistance will get a good start to his career with the stud’s Dan Fletcher happy to have a horse of his calibre.
“We have had an excellent response to him,” Fletcher said.
“Sometimes a horse with his sort of profile can take a bit of explaining but people just accept that he was a really good racehorse, it is all in the form guide.”
“And he is a beautiful animal, quite tall with plenty of timber under him. But he is very athletic for a big horse; well-proportioned and well-balanced.”
“I think if he’d gone to a yearling sale he would’ve made a lot of money but he was always that bit special and Sir Owen just couldn’t bring himself to sell him.”
Fletcher is excited by the support that Red Resistance’s breeder is providing, noting that “we already have a few Go Bloodstock mares in our paddocks and they are not hard to look at! They are high quality mares with deep pedigrees which is going to provide the stallion with a good foundation.”
Red Resistance is a son of the G2 Rubiton S. winner Heatherly (Lonhro) from the family of the G1 Stradbroke H. winner Linton (Galileo {Ire}).
First son of Blame in Australia
Aquis Farm have looked at a different sire line to bring in new blood for 2024 and their decision to stand the triple Group 3 winner Officiating (USA) is already reaping rewards with the handsome bay proving popular.
“The main reason we sought him out was that he has such a great pedigree for local mares,” Aquis’ Jonathan Davies said, “and Queensland breeders have been very receptive to that.”
“He is building up a nice book and he has a really good shareholder support base and we will be heavily supporting him.”
“Not since Brave Smash and Pierata have we supported a first season horse to this extent.”
Officiating arrived in Queensland a few months ago, giving him plenty of time to settle in and Davies is delighted with – “he has settled in beautifully,” he said.
One of the 48 stakes winners sired by Claiborne Farm’s US Champion Older Miler Blame (USA) whose third dam is the famed matriarch Special (USA) (Forli {Arg}), Officiating is a half-brother to the US Champion 2YO Filly Caledonia Road (USA) (Quality Road {USA}).
Alpine at Clear Mountain
Another Danehill-free horse who is going to suit mares with Danehill strains is Clear Mountain Fairview’s Alpine Edge, an imposing Better Than Ready horse who stamped himself as one of the state’s best juveniles.
The winner at his first two starts of the Listed Phelan Ready S. and the G3 BJ McLachlan S., Alpine Edge was slowly away in the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic; strong to the line with a game second. He returned to the Gold Coast two years later to take out the rich Magic Millions QTIS.
One of Better Than Ready’s 12 stakes winners, Alpine Edge is a full brother to the promising stakes placed 3-year-old Port Lockroy from a family whose members often pop up in the Group 1 winner’s stall with one in particular also shining at stud, the wonderful sprinter Zeditave.
Clear Mountain Fairview’s Bob Frappell has been impressed by Alpine Edge since the 5-year-olds arrival at the Greenmount stud.
“He has settled in really well, he has got a great temperament and he is such a nice, correct horse; the sort of horse who if you see him you love him.”
“We’ve had a really good response to him, his owners sold quite a few shares and others retained their shares and we are getting nice bookings in.”
“His sire, along with Spirit Of Boom, has really helped put Queensland breeding on the map in the last few years and having pedigrees not jammed with Danehill is a real positive.”
On the move
There have not been stallion movements in Queensland this year though with the closing down of Grandview Stud, Winning Rupert (sire of three 2024 stakes winners; Seonee, Semana and Tintookie) has been relocated to Geisel Park Stud in Western Australia whilst the G1 HKJC Queen Elizabeth II S. winner Neorealism (Jpn) was exported to Japan in March.
He didn’t serve large books of mares during his time at Grandview with one winner; Tanoshi, amongst his first 18 runners.
Sadly Rothesay died at Lyndhurst Stud, aged 17, in March. The dual Group 3-winning son of Fastnet Rock from Canny Lad’s family made his mark locally with seven stakes winners including the popular Group 1 galloper Rothesay.
Fee increase for Kobayashi
Service fees have been quite steady this year as well though with Aquis Farm’s Kobayashi enjoying such a good season with his 2-year-olds, his service fee increases from $8800 inc GST to $15,000 inc GST.
With his eight juvenile winners of 15 races, he is the fifth leading 2-year-old sire by numbers of wins with the very fast Listed Dalrello S. winner Mishani Lily leading the way with her four wins whilst Mishani Aloha has won three of six.
Kobayashi is one of seven I Am Invincible stallions to be represented by a stakes winner so that horse, whose grandson Tassort is flying, is well on his way as a sire of sires (and beyond!).
A Listed winner at two at Caulfield, Kobayashi has 54 runners amongst his first 88 runners with another promising type being his 3-year-old son Marble Nine who ran third in last weekend’s G3 Bletchingly S.
