“It would mean everything to have two in the top ten”
Yarraman celebrate as Hellbent continues to make his mark at stud
Yarraman Park’s stallion parade on Thursday will now take the form of a celebration as the stud toasts confirmation of Hellbent (I Am Invincible) through his second Group 1 winner – and looks ahead to an enduringly successful sireline.
After Benedetta (Hellbent) put several close top-tier finishes behind her by taking Saturday’s The Goodwood (Gr 1, 1200m) at Morphettville, Hellbent can boast some statistical honours which even outstrip some posted by his famous father and studmate.
With just three crops running, Hellbent now sits 11th on the Australian general sires’ table, on which I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) is a runaway leader in pursuit of his third straight title. Even Vinnie himself could manage only 21st place on the table at the end of his third season of runners, with only 11 fewer starters than the 187 Hellbent has had so far this term.
And with Benedetta and Hellbent’s other Group 1 winner Magic Time set to compete for riches at the Brisbane winter carnival, the 11-year-old has a strong chance to climb higher, giving Yarraman two sires in the top ten.
Hellbent could rise as high as ninth by season’s end. He’s now just $230,625 behind tenth-placed Capitalist (Written Tycoon), and $244,503 behind ninth-placed Teofilo (Galileo), who’s major earning window came and went last spring.
Yarraman’s second string sire, who’ll stand again for $38,500 (inc GST) in his seventh season this year after a fee bump last year from $22,000 (inc GST), is a clear leader on the third-season sires’ table, with his progeny’s earnings of $9,590,017 more than $2,500,793 greater than second-placed Russian Revolution (Snitzel).
Showing Hellbent’s rise, those positions represent a reverse of the quinella in last year’s second-season table, while Hellbent finished fourth on 2022’s first-season standings, also topped by Russian Revolution.
With Hellbent’s oldest progeny now four, he ranks third among sires for that age group, behind only the mighty pair of I Am Invincible and Zoustar (Northern Meteor).
And Hellbent has also matched – in some ways bettered – his own sire by having two Group 1 winners from his first crop in Benedetta and Magic Time. It took Vinnie three more years to record that stat, with Brazen Beau (I Am Invincible) winning at the top level at three, but Vinnie’s second first-crop Group 1 coming from Voodoo Lad as a seven-year-old.
Hellbent has also mirrored I Am Invincible’s three first-crop Group 1 wins, with Magic Time having also taken Randwick’s All Aged Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) on April 20.
All told, having waited until November of his third season with runners to celebrate a top-level success through Magic Time’s Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Caulfield, Yarraman are extremely buoyant over how Hellbent has progressed, and how he’s positioned for the future.
“We’re thrilled,” Yarraman’s Harry Mitchell told ANZ Bloodstock News. “The biggest thing for a stallion is to prove their durability and the fact their offspring can train on. The day and age of the speedy squib stallion is coming to an end.
“So it’s great to see Hellbent getting the results he is now, and to see his horses are training on.
“We weren’t nervous about him. Everyone’s desperate to have stallions who can get two-year-olds, and I understand that. The thing is, he can get good two-year-olds with the right mares, he’s proven that, but when you start at a lesser fee, you’re not likely to get as many mares that will get you two-year-olds.
“That said, he started quite well, finishing second on the first-season sires’ table. But his progression now is really exciting. He’s running 11th in Australia with three crops – that’s pretty good.
“It’s a big asset when a stallion’s progeny train on, and it really becomes super important.”
An extra layer of satisfaction had come for Mitchell, and his brother and co-studmaster Arthur, through Hellbent so far defying a level of doubt apparent in the industry when Yarraman began standing him alongside his own sire in 2018.
That came after Hellbent had finally secured a Group 1 at his last start in Moonee Valley’s William Reid Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), in his fifth attempt at the top level and two years after Yarraman had bought into him.
“What’s happening now is exciting for us, because he was never a horse completely obvious to everyone,” Mitchell said of Hellbent, who now has five stakes winners and 109 winners from 203 runners in all countries.
“Some people really liked him, and some didn’t. But we just liked the fact he’s got so much quality himself, and now we like that he throws beautiful horses.
“People also said at the start, ‘When you’ve got Vinnie, why get a son?’ Well, I want a son of whatever’s really good. And if I was offered another son of Vinnie and I really liked that horse, I’d stand another one.”
Mitchell pointed up the road for a supporting example, citing the success Arrowfield Stud has had through Danehill (Danzig), his son Redoute’s Choice, and that sire’s sons Snitzel, Not A Single Doubt – and now the emerging The Autumn Sun.
Hellbent has now affirmed himself as I Am Invincible’s most successful son at stud, but Vinnie’s other dual Group 1 producer Brazen Beau now looks to have provided evidence of longevity through the blistering start of his son Tassort.
“I think the Vinnie sireline is doing really well, even the cheaper ones,” he said. “Hellbent’s doing well, as are Vinnie’s cheaper sons like Kobayashi, who gets a lot of winners, and Overshare’s got Lady Laguna. Then you’ve got Brazen Beau and now his son Tassort.”
Such form augured well, Mitchell said, for Coolmore’s third-year sire Home Affairs. His fee this year of $82,500 (inc GST) is a drop from his starting $110,000 (inc GST), but he’s still by far the highest-priced son of I Am Invincible at stud, with Hellbent now second after Darley dropped the 12-year-old Brazen Beau this year from $44,000 (inc GST) to $33,000 (inc GST).
Mitchell said Yarraman would feel tremendous pride from having two of their three stallions – the emerging Brave Smash (Tosen Phantom) being the third – in the general sires’ top ten.
The stud had also gained enormous reassurance that Hellbent had now taken much guesswork out of his stud credentials – at a time when the breeding industry may, he said, be in for a correction.
“It would mean everything to have two in the top ten,” he said. “We’re only a small farm, but we’ve been at it a long time. Obviously Vinnie’s been a game-changer for us, our farm, our people and our families. To have Hellbent coming along so well also is a huge thrill.
“It’s very satisfying. You work really hard, you dream about Group 1s, so for Hellbent to get two Group 1 winners in three weeks is great. We’re going to parade the horses on Thursday before Friday’s Scone Cup, and it’ll be like a celebration for us.
“Things are going fine, but you’ve got to keep working at it. It’s very competitive out there. At least we’ve got proven stallions. If we’re going to go into a slight correction, it’s very important for people to go to proven sires.
“I think it’s time to be a bit careful, without thinking the market’s going to drop dreadfully, but there’s always going to be demand for quality, and we’re all looking to breed a good product.
“Now that Hellbent has established himself and we keep getting better mares, I don’t see how he can fail.”