Deep Field on the rise after stellar season
Deep Field (Northern Meteor) has assumed top billing at Newgate Farm and will stand for an increased service fee this year, as the Hunter Valley stud attempts to manage the exciting stallion’s “book” with a view to his long-term future.
The decision to set Deep Field’s fee at $55,000 (all fees inclusive of GST), up from $44,000 last year and more than double his opening $22,0000 figure, coincides with yesterday’s announcement that his Group 2-winning son Cosmic Force would be one of three newcomers on Newgate Farm’s roster of 13 stallions this year.
Five other stallions, including Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Capitalist (Written Tycoon) and Group 1-winning sprinter Russian Revolution (Snitzel), have had their fees cut slightly in consideration of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Newgate Farm managing director Henry Field admitted there was some internal debate about raising Deep Field’s fee given the economic fallout from the coronavirus but said the merit of the stallion’s two crops to hit the track demanded that he continue his rise.
“He is the leading second-crop sire of winners and stakes horses and, if the way his yearlings were received this year is any indication, his stocks are only going to rise in the future,” Field said.
“We feel strongly that he’s the best second crop stallion in the country. He has worked his way up from a fee of $22,000 to $55,000. He’s slowly building and by many of the metrics that we judge a young stallion, he is only going from strength to strength.
“Given that we’ve been inundated with bookings for the horse over the past few months, we felt that it was the right thing to do by the horse to try to curb his numbers.
“He’s going to be on the farm for the long-term so we want to look after him”.
Deep Field’s three-year-old daughter Xilong won the Euclase Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday while the John Thompson-trained Fituese made it four wins from six starts with an emphatic first-up performance in Sydney on the same day. His yearlings sold to a top of $800,000 this year.
“We know that many of his best colts have been snapped up by Hong Kong and we’ve already had a highly commercial young sire go to stud in Cosmic Force, so it is lovely to see his fillies step up to the plate as well,” Field continued.
“Fituese looks like a genuine Group horse in the making and Isotope is current favourite for the Group 1 J J Atkins. He’s a very versatile stallion – colts, fillies and he gets beautiful looking stock.”
The service fees for Newgate’s first season sires Brutal (O’Reilly) ($27,500) and Tassort (Brazen Beau) ($11,000) have already been announced by ANZ Bloodstock News in recent weeks while Cosmic Force was announced at $16,500 yesterday.
Launching three stallions at once is not a foreign task for Field, with the first two-year-olds by Newgate’s 2017 quartet of Capitalist ($44,000), Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) ($16,500), Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt) ($22,000) and Winning Rupert (Written Tycoon) ($16,500) set to hit the track next season.
Russian Revolution, whose first crop are weanlings, will stand for $44,000.
“Russian Revolution’s foals are quite spectacular and most people that have got foals by him will attest to that fact. He’ll be very popular again this year,” Field said.
“Capitalist’s yearlings sold incredibly well and went to all the good trainers. We’ve brought those horses’ fees down because we want those breeders who have supported them previously to get some value and those that have supported them previously will get the first opportunity to book to them at the tightened-up fee.
“Winning Rupert, Extreme Choice and Flying Artie are all high-level horses priced very, very competitively in the marketplace. There’s huge numbers of stock going to the right stables and I can’t wait for their first two-year-olds to step out in a few months’ time.”
Dissident (Sebring) and Wandjina (Snitzel) have also had their service fees cut to $11,000 and Field says the pair represent great value, with the latter siring the recent Skyline Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) winner Mamaragan.
Field said Newgate Farm’s partners would again breed heavily to their stallions this year, particularly their young stallions including Brutal whose early breeder interest “had been off the richter scale”.
“We support our roster with our mares. We look to develop our stallions, not just stand them,” he said.
“It’s lovely to be developing a proven stallion like Deep Field so early in our stallion operation’s life cycle.”
Sizzling will not be returning to Newgate Farm this year but Field is confident the son of Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) will find a new home before the start of the new season.
Newgate Farm stallion roster
2020 2019
Deep Field $55,000 $44,000
Capitalist $44,000 $55,000
Russian Revolution $44,000 $55,000
Brutal $27,500 new
Extreme Choice $22,000 unchanged
Cosmic Force $16,500 new
Flying Artie $16,500 $27,500
Menari $16,500 unchanged
Winning Rupert $16,500 unchanged
Tassort $11,000 new
Super One $11,000 unchanged
Dissident $11,000 $27,500
Wandjina $11,000 $22,000
*all fees inclusive of GST