$275,000 service fee set for the freakish Extreme Choice
Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt) will join rare air with the stallion that is posting ‘freakish’ figures standing for an advertised fee of $275,000 (all fees inc GST) this year as Newgate Farm opens the door for a limited number of breeders to access the sire of Group 1-winning juveniles Stay Inside and She’s Extreme.
After keeping Extreme Choice’s fee private last year, and limiting his services to shareholders, Newgate Farm last night revealed that it would return to placing an advertised fee on the son of Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice), who in his second to fourth seasons stood for what is in hindsight a paltry $22,000.
The announcement coincides with Newgate Farm confirming that this season’s current leading first season sire Russian Revolution (Snitzel) will stand for an increased $71,500 next season while Capitalist (Written Tycoon) ($99,000) and Deep Field (Northern Meteor) ($88,000) would remain at their 2021 fees.
The service fees for Newgate Farm’s four new season sires – Extreme Choice’s Golden Slipper-winning son Stay Inside ($77,000), Wild Ruler (Snitzel) ($38,500), Tiger Of Malay (Extreme Choice) ($16,500) and Profiteer (Capitalist) ($16,500) – were made public last month.
The Hunter Valley farm will have a roster of 13 stallions when the southern hemisphere breeding season gets under way in 2022 with Flying Artie (Artie Schiller), Brutal (O’Reilly) and North Pacific (Brazen Beau) all standing for a fee of $22,000. Cosmic Force (Deep Field) and Tassort (Brazen Beau) will stand for a fee of $11,000.
Newgate Farm principal Henry Field said the demand for Extreme Choice forced the stud’s hand and he believes the service fee, which places him in the pantheon of Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) and Encosta De Lago (Fairy King), reflects the feats the stallion has been able to achieve from his two foal crops of racing age.
“I don’t think anyone has any doubt in their mind that what he’s doing has him in freakish territory. He’s had 38 runners, seven stakes winners, four Group 1 performers, two Group 1 winners and a Golden Slipper winner,” Field told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“We have had so much demand from people wanting to breed to him that we decided to set a fee and we’ll sell a limited number of nominations and we’ll also offer a limited number of foal shares.”
With multiple breeding rights in Extreme Choice to be auctioned at the upcoming Inglis Chairman’s and Magic Millions National sales, the public service fee will also help shareholders put a value on their stake in the stallion, Field said.
“It just gives some of the shareholders the opportunity to have a valuation to help them transact their nominations,” he revealed.
“At this stage, obviously most of the smart operators want to get some access to him, be it paying the fee or applying for a foal share.”
Extreme Choice’s 2022 fee is the same as what the late Arrowfield Stud sire Redoute’s Choice stood for in 2006, a figure he eclipsed in the following two years when standing for an Australian record of $330,000. Encosta De Lago also stood for $302,500 in 2008 at Coolmore.
The announcement of Extreme Choice’s service fee also gave Field pause for reflection on the remarkable feats of the fertility-challenged stallion who has about 45 mares currently in foal from a book of 76 he covered in 2021.
“I remember we had such high hopes for him as a stallion and I was shattered when he had fertility issues in his first season,” Field recalled.
“Peter Keating said to me, ‘if Northern Dancer can do it with 40 foals a year, so can Extreme Choice if he’s good enough’. He’s a legendary stallion master, Peter Keating, and I half dismissed his comment, but he was dead right.
“He is doing a phenomenal job with limited numbers.”
The practices put in place last year by Newgate to best maximise Extreme Choice’s conception rate will be used again this year.
“By limiting his numbers, it’s definitely giving people a far higher chance of getting their mare in foal per cycle,” the studmaster said.
“When you’re dealing with this calibre of mare, we have to give them every opportunity to get pregnant.
“People breeding that level of mare to him want to make sure they get every chance.”
Russian Revolution earns fee increase
When announcing the retirement of Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) winner Wild Ruler earlier this year, Field forecast the impending fee increase for another son of Snitzel in Russian Revolution and he is comfortable with the way the dual Group 1 winner is tracking.
The first crop juveniles by Russian Revolution, a graduate of the China Horse Club-Newgate Farm colts partnership, include Blue Diamond Prelude (F) (Gr 2, 1100m) winner Revolutionary Miss, Pago Pago Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) winner Rise Of The Masses and the stakes-placed Russian Conquest and Russian Roni.
“China Horse Club is the major shareholder in the horse and Mr Teo Ah Khing’s absolute priority is for the horse to get the best mares possible this year,” Field said.
“He wants to play the long game with his fee, so as you can imagine, as the dominant first season sire he’s been run over with mares.
“We want to pick and choose the best and most suitable mares for him.”
Russian Revolution, who covered 168 mares last year at a fee of $44,000 and has 104 weanlings on the ground, has a significant lead over his first season rivals by earnings and Field is confident the best is ahead of the young stallion.
“It was an extraordinary performance to have one horse get beaten in a photo finish in the Magic Millions (Russian Conquest), one horse to get beaten in a photo finish in a Blue Diamond (Revolutionary Miss),” he said.
“They are different horses for a stallion that didn’t race until late into his two-year-old season and there’s a quantity of very nice horses by him still to race. The feedback we’re getting from a lot of trainers is that they’re very naturally athletic, aerobic animals that will definitely train on.”
Field is also happy with the way Capitalist and Deep Field are tracking and saw no reason to alter their fees for 2022.
Golden Slipper winner Capitalist is the runaway leader by winners in the second season sires title with 50 since August 1 while he is second by earnings to Arrowfield’s Maurice (Screen Hero). Deep Field is sixth on the general sires’ table by winners and 15th by earnings.
Deep Field is also leading the Hong Kong sires’ premiership by earnings with sprinter Sky Field his banner horse in Asia.
“I think they’re really nice, good stallions in that $50,000 to $100,000 bracket, which there is probably a lack of,” he said.
“For the most part it is basically horses that are very expensive or unproven, so to have two really good, young, proven stallions who are on a positive trajectory in that bracket is excellent.
“Capitalist is the greatest play of all time this year. We bred 230 of the finest mares to him last year and you just see his two-year-olds dominating before the yearling sales (of his 2022 conceived crop).”
Service fee policy changes
In a change of policy, Newgate Farm will also provide breeders with the safety of a “no foal refund” if their mare does not produce a live foal. The service fee will be paid back to the breeder in full rather than offering the standard free return.
“We had a lot of feedback from breeders that plans change, the market changes, so rather than being locked in on free returns if they’re unfortunate enough to not have a live foal they can get a refund,” he said.
“You have got to move with the market and we had the suggestion from some of our bigger clients that it’d be really well received and so we’ve gone with that.”
Winning Rupert (Written Tycoon) has relocated to Grandview Stud in Queensland while Menari (Snitzel) is no longer on the roster.