Breakout seasons and close-run titles as wrap up commences
Image: Snitzel, (Credit: Arrowfield)
In a season that has seen multiple sires’ tables pushed all the way, Coolmore’s burgeoning stallion Home Affairs (I Am Invincible) produced a huge opening season as he conquered all in the first-season sires’ category – and also looks set to be narrowly runner-up in the 2YO table.
With just today left for any sires to produce one final push at being crowned top of their respective tables, Home Affairs has the Australian and New Zealand Leading First Season Sires title all wrapped up – and did so in Australia months ago.
The son of I Am Invincible’s (Invincible Spirit) top performer on the track by some distance has been Guest House, winner of the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) and third in the Blue Diamond (Gr 1, 1200m). The colt has amassed a total of $3,275,500 during his opening campaign, meaning his sire finished atop of the first-season sires’ table by just short of a whopping $4 million over Darley shuttler Pinatubo (Shamardal).
Over in New Zealand and Home Affairs’ top performer was Eclipse Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) scorer Kinnaird, who brought in a considerably less but still as important $166,375 in prize-money, leaving his sire sitting over $100,000 clear of nearest rival Sword Of State (Snitzel).
Home Affairs has also come out on top in the winner’s category for both tables, siring three in New Zealand – one clear of Sword Of State – and an impressive 16 in Australia, five clear of Newgate’s Wild Ruler (Snitzel) on 11.
However, despite his utter dominance in the first-season sires’ categories on both sides of the Tasman, it is Home Affairs’ huge effort in the Australian Leading 2YO Sires table that has proven to be most impressive.
In what has been a truly remarkable first season for his opening crop, Home Affairs is still within touching distance of the great Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) in the two-year-old category, sitting $36,045 behind Arrowfield’s late breed-shaper with a day of racing still to come.
Snitzel has Santa Barbara down to race in the Roderick Insurance Brokers 2YO Maiden Plate (1100m) at Geelong, while Home Affairs flanks him with a trio of runners – Shah Jahan in the TRACT 2YO Maiden Plate (1100m) at Geelong, Public Safety in the Magic Millions Maiden Handicap (900m) at Scone, and Fawlty Affairs in the Stevens Group Maiden Plate (900m) – also at Scone.
That sires’ race could really go down to the thinnest of wires should Home Affairs cop a couple of winners, but the one race that Home Affairs has already won is the Leading 2YO Sire by winners category. He has 16 as already mentioned, while currently next in behind him with 12 is Eureka Stud’s late sire Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo).
New Zealand’s Leading 2YO Sire race has also gone down to the last few days, with Newgate’s Russian Revolution (Snitzel) leading Westbury Stud’s El Roca (Fastnet Rock) for the home team by $14,750. That lead will be enough to secure the former success however, with the pair having sent out all their two-year-old runners already.
The win adds to Russian Revolution’s champion first and second season sires’ titles in Australia, gained in 2022 and 2023. Top of the list for two-year-old winners in New Zealand sees Home Affairs again mentioned, who sits joint-first alongside Waikato’s Ardrossan (Redoute’s Choice) – the pair having had three individual winners.
A win for Back Of The Bus in Thursday’s Ryder Stakes (Listed, 1200m) helped stamp the crowning of Hello Youmzain (Kodiac) as New Zealand’s Leading Second Season Sire, with the Cambridge Stud-based stallion taking the title ahead of Windsor Park’s Circus Maximus (Galileo).
Back Of The Bus’ win in the Listed sprint saw him take home the $46,000 winner’s cheque, a hugely significant one when you see that Hello Youmzain is ahead by only $44,977 in the table.
Hello Youmzain also leads the same table for winners, bagging 23 individual winners over the 2025-26 season ahead of Circus Maximus – who was again a valiant second – with ten.
Back over in Australia and the second season sires’ race was another to go the distance, with Darley’s breakout sire Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) holding off the challenge of Coolmore’s late shuttler Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) by less than $80,000 at the time of writing.
Wootton Bassett has come out on top in the winners section though, scoring 57 individual winners for the season over Farnan’s 48. Vinery’s son of Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice) also finished an excellent third in the table by prize-money.
Leading Broodmare Sire in Australia has again gone the way of the fantastic Fastnet Rock (Danehill), with the late Coolmore sire copping an almost $7 million lead over nearest rival Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) with Exceed And Excel (Danehill) back in third – the trio beautifully showcasing the staggeringly influential sireline of Danehill (Danzig).
Over in New Zealand and O’Reilly (Last Tycoon) scooped up his fifth successive Leading Broodmare Sire title, taking home first prize ahead of Savabeel (Zabeel) by over $1 million.
Now for the main event, the General Sires’ tables, and Snitzel has once again proven that his undoubted legacy is going to remain prominent for a few more years yet, taking first in the general sires’ over last season’s victor Zoustar (Northern Meteor) in what is his first champion sire success since 2020.
The son of Redoute’s Choice died in June last year of age-related problems but has landed his fifth champion sire title by over $4 million, while also looking highly likely to take out his sixth champion two-year-old sire crown.
In what is testament to his vast catalogue of top racehorses, Snitzel’s best performer stakeswise for the campaign has been Lady Shenandoah, who incredibly racked up $2,553,250 without actually winning a race. She ran placings in the Queen Of The Turf Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m), Canterbury Stakes (Gr 1, 1300m), Expressway Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m), Concorde Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) and Russell Balding Stakes (1300m).
To put that into perspective, Snitzel’s nearest pursuer, Zoustar, had his top performer in star mare Joliestar – who racked up just less than $2,000 short of $5 million for the season with victories in the T J Smith Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), Canterbury Stakes, Expressway Stakes and The Shorts (Gr 2, 1100m).
Born in 2002 and retired to stud in 2006 following a career that saw him land the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) and run second in the Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m), Snitzel has outlasted all peers from his year of retirement.
In fact, only top-liners Lonhro (Octogonal) (retired 2004), Fastnet Rock (Danehill) (retired 2005), Savabeel (Zabeel) (retired 2005), Written Tycoon (Iglesia) (retired 2007), and Magnus (Flying Spur) (retired 2008) sit two years either side of Snitzel in retirement years and inside the top 50 of sires, and only one of those made the top ten this season – Written Tycoon in ninth position.
Snitzel will have his final yearlings sell at the boutique Magic Millions and Inglis yearling sales in 2027, and has produced another fine advert on how sought after they are going to be.
Arrowfield will be looking to The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) (retired 2019) to take up Snitzel’s duties in the coming seasons, and the fellow son of Redoute’s Choice produced an excellent third placing in this season’s table with $18,843,093 in prize-money – albeit with sensational mare Autumn Glow carrying the rest with over $8.5 million earned.
Others to look out for in the general sires’ list are up-and-comers Hellbent (I Am Invincible) (retired 2018), Toronado (High Chaparral) (retired 2015) and Capitalist (Written Tycoon) (retired 2017), with all three sitting inside the top 11 on the general sires’ list and also in the top six of stallions in Hong Kong – where a good section of their produce end up.
New Zealand’s Champion Sire is Proisir (Choisir), with the hugely promising Rich Hill sire taking out his second title, again ahead of constant rival Savabeel.
The son of Choisir’s (Danehill Dancer) top performer has been six-year-old mare Legarto, winner of both the Herbie Dyke Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) and Boncrusher New Zealand Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) in her final two outings this season.
With the very recent passing of New Zealand great Savabeel, Proisir, who was retired in 2015, looks to have many a year ahead dining at the top of the champion sire’s table.