Savabeel to stand for NZ$100,000 as Ardrossan earns fee increase at Waikato Stud
New Zealand’s eight-time champion stallion Savabeel (Zabeel), whose remarkable durability and versatility as a sire was once again witnessed during The Championships in Sydney, will stand for $100,000 (all fees NZD and plus GST) in 2023.
Waikato Stud’s flagbearer will stand for an advertised fee this coming breeding season, after the fee was kept private last year. He sits atop a seven-stallion roster at the stud, on which he is joined by Super Seth (Dundeel), who remains unchanged at $35,000, ahead of his first crop two-year-olds hitting the track in the new season.
Ocean Park (Thorn Park), the sire of three Group 3 winners so far this season, also remains unchanged at $30,000. Group 1 sire Tivaci (High Chaparral) has had his fee cut to $12,500 (from $20,000), while the promising start made by Ardrossan’s first crop will see the fee for the son of Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) increased to $10,000 (from $6,000).
New Zealand 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Noverre (Savabeel) will stand for an unchanged $10,000, while Banquo (Written Tycoon), the brother to Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) winner Booker, will stand for $3,000 later this year.
Savabeel has sired four Group 1 winners this year; TJ Smith Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner I Wish I Win – the highest-ranked sprinter in the world; Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Major Beel; Queen Of The Turf Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) scorer Atishu and, in New Zealand, Prise De Fer landed the Captain Cook Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m). Furthermore, Savabeel is second on the Australian sires’ premiership, with more than $17.1 million in progeny’ earnings.
He is behind only I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) – with Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) and So You Think (High Chaparral) in third and fourth respectively.
“Savabeel provided the highlight for another very special year for Waikato Stud,” said the facility’s studmaster Mark Chittick.
“Standing top-notch, proven stallions gives you the opportunity to get great results. That’s what Savabeel has given us, his loyal shareholders and those that have bred to him – the chance to make history.”
Chittick is also excited by the prospects of Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Super Seth, whose first crop yearlings sold for up to NZ$625,000 at the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka National Yearling Sale and averaged $230,000 at the Magic Millions sale on the Gold Coast.
Breeders continued to support Super Seth in his second and third seasons, Chittick said, ensuring there will be strong representation at the sales and on the racetrack beyond his first crop.
“Those that have had a bit to do with them since the sales have all said, ‘great brains, great movers’,” the Waikato Stud principal said.
“His own sire (Dundeel) has had a phenomenal season. Super Seth’s first crop is about to turn two and get stuck into what they’ve been bred for, and we can’t wait.”
Chittick also has high hopes for Ardrossan, who has two first–crop stakes winners, Codigo and Saturday’s Champagne Stakes (Listed, 1600m) winner Loch Katrine, from just nine runners.
“He’s one of the most talked about horses in Australasia,” Chittick said.
“He started off with a small crop and what he’s done, the impression that he’s created, at this stage is unbelievably exciting.”
Roster mate Ocean Park is the sire of 19 individual stakes winners, including $3.1 million mare Tofane, three-time Group 1 winner Kolding and Auckland Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner Ocean Billy. He is also the sire of Oceanex, a Group 2 winner, Group 3 winner Another Dollar, and High Emocean, who ran third in this season’s Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m).
Chittick said: “He’s got his best books on both numbers and quality coming through for him, and stallions that have left horses of the class he has don’t just stop.”
Waikato Stud stallion roster
2023 2022
Savabeel (Zabeel) $100,000 private
Super Seth (Dundeel) $35,000 unchanged
Ocean Park (Thorn Park) $30,000 unchanged
Tivaci (High Chaparral) $12,500 $20,000
Ardrossan (Redoute’s Choice) $10,000 $6,000
Noverre (Savabeel) $10,000 unchanged
Banquo (Written Tycoon) $3,000 $4,000
*all fees in NZ currency and plus GST