Sword Of State rises to $20,000 as Cambridge release 2025 fees
New Zealand’s famed Cambridge Stud says it has stuck to its model of providing a variety of quality stallions at sensible prices in framing a “steady as she goes” set of service fees for 2025.
Of the farm’s five stallions, only the trend-defying Sword Of State (Snitzel) has had a fee change, rising slightly off the back of his strong-selling first crop of yearlings, from $15,000 to $20,000 (all fees plus GST).
All other Cambridge sires are unchanged, with shuttlers Chaldean (Frankel) and Hello Youmzain (Kodiac) at $35,000 and $30,000 respectively, Almanzor (Wootton Bassett) on $30,000, and Embellish (Savabeel) at $5,000.
Cambridge, whose quintet of stallions hail from five different sirelines representing various strands of success in Europe and Australasia, said it had kept its fees at a level to keep breeders satisfied.
“We’re pretty happy with where all our stallions are at and where they’re going,” Cambridge’s sales and nominations manager Scott Calder told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“The key thing for us is we want to offer breeders a quality line-up, and if you look at the bloodlines our five stallions represent, it’s a who’s who of leading stallions through the world.
“We have a son of Snitzel, an Australian champion sire. Frankel is one of the best-performed stallions in the world and he and Wootton Bassett have been dominant forces in Europe. Kodiac is a multiple champion two-year-old sire there, and the Zabeel-Savabeel line has been dominant in New Zealand.
“We feel like our stud fees have always been well positioned. And if you look at how our yearlings have performed in the sale ring in the past few years, we think our stallions are priced at a level that will give breeders a good chance of getting a return.
“We try to bring in the best racehorses we can. They’re all very well bred horses, but we’re also conscious of bringing in the right types, so that commercial breeders can breed to them with confidence.”
Sword Of State in particular had “been a real winner in that respect”, Calder said.
The six-year-old, who claimed the ARC Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) at two, has defied norms in a couple of respects: he’s served more mares in his second and third seasons than in his first, with 126 in 2022 followed by 142 and 131; and his fee has increased before he’s had a runner.
Those two factors reflect the quality of his first foals, and their popularity at yearling sales. His initial crop this year averaged more than $200,000 – off that original $15,000 service fee – through 28 lots sold, with a peak of $540,000.
“Sword Of State’s fee has gone up, which is a reflection of where the market sees him based on his sales results,” Calder said. “We’re his biggest supporters and the way they sold even took us by surprise.
“His results on their own were really impressive, but particularly in the context of his stud fee and how he’s performed against other stallions who stand and much higher fees.”
Calder said Sword Of State would likely be “hugely popular” again this spring, particularly with another crop of “fantastic looking” weanlings on the ground, including a half-brother to dual Group 1 winner Ceolwulf (Tavistock).
“He has a bit of a knack – even with mares who’ve been a bit hit and miss with foals they’ve produced, we’ll send them to Sword Of State and they’ll have the best foal they’ve ever had,” Calder said.
“He makes life pretty easy because he does upgrade mares on type and very consistently.
“He’s bred more mares in years two and three than he did in his first year. That tells the story of the type of foals he’s left and how that’s generated return business from breeders.
“It also means he’s got a good pipeline of horses coming through in years two and three, and we do have some lovely horses that will no doubt be popular with people at the sales from his second crop.
“He’s making a habit of breaking the rules. He’s just a horse we’ve got a huge amount of confidence in.”
Chaldean was extremely popular in his first spring last year at Cambridge, which offers terms of payment on live foal.
Turning five next month by northern time, Chaldean covered a high quality initial book of 120 mares in 2024. With many of those booked under three-year packages, Calder said Chaldean would likely fill up quickly again this year.
“Chaldean covered an outstanding book of mares in his first season – 59 per cent of the mares were either black type performers or producers,” he said. “Probabeel is one of four Group 1 winners in-foal to him as are the dams of Group 1 winners Asterix, Ceolwulf, El Castello, Pinarello and Signify.
“We feel that his two-year-old record, in particular, is well suited to this part of the world. He remains Frankel’s best two-year-old son and won the Champagne Stakes-Dewhurst Stakes double at two, just like Too Darn Hot.”
Calder added: “He covered a lot of our best mares last year, and a lot of the best mares in the country in fact.
“To have the likes of Probabeel in foal to him is great. With stallions, the support they get and the quality of broodmare is so important to them getting off on the right foot at stud.
“With what he achieved on the track and the way he’s bred, he deserves to get those top-end mares. I think that’s going to stand him in really good stead, firstly at the sales but more importantly with his progeny’s racing prospects.”
Hello Youmzain, who’s stood at $30,000 for all four previous seasons at Cambridge, has made a promising start with his first runners in both hemispheres. In the north, he has two stakes winners amid 36 winners from 71 runners. In Australasia he has five winners from 15 runners, amid a 93-foal first-crop.
The nine-year-old was the leading first season sire in France last year – by earnings, winners and stakes-winners – and leads the first season sire list by winners in New Zealand this season, with three.
Hello Youmzain covered 126 mares at Cambridge last season, up 21 on the year before. His 34 yearlings offered in New Zealand this year averaged $95,000, down from $153,000 for the 40 sold from his first crop. His Australian average held fairly steady, at $136,000 through five lots sold, down from $140,000 from last year’s nine.
“He’s started very well in France, and he’s starting to pump out the winners and trial winners here and he’s a stallion who’ll have a good finish to the two-year-old season,” Calder said.
“We’re looking forward to his spring three-year-olds. We think he’ll continue to get those results.”
Just as Wootton Bassett remains in high demand shuttling to Coolmore Australia, his son Almanzor was again popular at Cambridge last year, with a book of 145 mares the stud believes will largely be mirrored this spring.
He’s currently third on New Zealand’s general sires’ table, in just his fourth season of runners, with two stakes winners, as well as three in Australia.
The 12-year-old comes off a strong sale season, with his Australasian average rising to $164,000 through 38 yearlings sold, from $117,000 through 51 lots last year.
“Almanzor is well proven and has had a really good set of results at the sales,” Calder said.
“One of his trademarks is he gets a really good sales type. At his fee, he allows breeders to breed something commercial for the sales, but probably more importantly he’s done such a good job of producing black type horses. For young mares in particular he’s such a great option.”
Representing one of New Zealand’s favourite sirelines in Zabeel-Savabeel, the ten-year-old Embellish presents an option for more budget-conscious breeders. From his $5,000 fee, his yearlings averaged $33,000 this year.
The ten-year-old has four scorers winners and 31 winners from 78 runners including three-year-old Hitabell, who took Ellerslie’s Eight Carat Classic (Gr 2, 1600m) on Boxing Day.
“We feel he’s one of the best value stallions in the country, looking at his performance and his pedigree,” Calder said. “He’s had less than 100 runners but has had three stakes winners over the summer period.
“For breeders looking to shop on a budget, he’s very hard to go past.”
Cambridge Stud fees for 2025 (all fees plus GST)
2025 – 2024
Almanzor $30,000 – Unchanged
Chaldean $35,000 – Unchanged
Embellish $5,000 – Unchanged
Hello Youmzain $30,000 – Unchanged
Sword Of State $20,000 – $15,000