Symbolic fee increase for Dundeel
Snitzel and The Autumn Sun hold firm as Maurice takes cut in Arrowfield roster rollout
The rise and rise of Dundeel (High Chaparral) has continued with Arrowfield electing to marginally increase his service fee for 2024 but they have resisted the temptation to lift the fee of his emerging barnmate The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice).
Dundeel, the sire of Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m) winning colt Militarize and Randwick Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) and Doncaster Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Celestial Legend this season, will stand for $88,000 (all fees inc GST), up from $82,500, but The Autumn Sun, after two Group 1s with three-year-olds in a fortnight, remains at $66,000 after siring back-to-back Oaks winners.
Arrowfield’s long-time flagbearer, the four-time champion Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), will remain unchanged at $247,500 to lead the farm’s roster of seven stallions.
Shuttler Maurice (Screen Hero) has had his fee decreased to $55,000, fellow Japanese sire Admire Mars (Daiwa Major) remains at $22,000, the same fee that three-time Group 1 winner Hitotsu (Maurice) will stand for in his second season.
Dundeel’s dual Group 1-winning son Castelvecchio, whose first crop two-year-olds include the Sydney stakes-placed colt El Castello and black type-performed Comanche Miss, will stand for a reduced $22,000.
Arrowfield’s bloodstock manager Jon Freyer said the farm was mindful of looking after its breeders, particularly those who may have felt the brunt of a market correction this year.
“I think the market is still very sound but we do recognise that there are elements of it that a lot of our customer base have found slightly tricky,” Freyer told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“With that in mind I think we chose to be reasonably conservative with our fees having regard to the commercial appeal of the horses and how they’re going.”
That said, Freyer is upbeat about the achievements of the Arrowfield stallions over the past year and said that the stud had committed to strongly supporting the roster with its broodmare band.
Dundeel will again be one of those best supported in-house and from outside breeders at a higher fee, one that Freyer suggested was more of an acknowledgement to the stallion’s recent feats than anything else.
“He’s the leading sire of three-year-olds in the country, he’s had a tremendous run and he’s got some lovely two-year-olds coming through as well. He’s got some great follow-up books of mares, so the future’s pretty bright for him,” Freyer said.
“I suppose, in an ordinary circumstance, he’s a horse that we would be standing for a lot more, but we just thought that we’ll keep him basically where he is. It’s symbolic in that regard, to put him up marginally, but I think it says to the market that we acknowledge how well he’s going.
“He’s very competitive against other horses that are probably going only as well, if not as well, and standing for a lot more money.”
The Autumn Sun’s stocks also took a significant upward tick during April – Autumn Angel taking out the Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) and Vibrant Sun leading home a trifecta for her sire in the Australasian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) – but Arrowfield decided against any change to his service fee.
“He’s got two Group 1 winners in this [first] crop and he’s got four others that are Group 1-placed, including a couple that are multiple Group 1-placed, so he’s done brilliantly well,” Freyer said.
“I think only Zoustar, Dundeel and The Autumn Sun have had more than one Group 1-winning three-year-old at the present time, so it’s putting him in very good company.
“He’s got great books of mares coming through as well and what’s happened now, people have worked out how to train them and what types of horses they are.”
Freyer added: “As it stands, 40 per cent of his fillies who have raced have competed at Group level. That says that there’s a lot of depth in the crop, so we’re really excited about him.
“We’ve chosen to leave him where he is and probably by the end of the year it’ll look sensational value.”
Maurice missed the 2020 southern hemisphere season due to the pandemic but his most recent Australian-bred crop of three-year-olds is headed by Group 3 winner and Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2200m) contender Genzano and the stakes-winning Group 1-placed colt Ganbare.
“He missed a year due to Covid when horses couldn’t shuttle from Japan, so he has lost a little bit of momentum in that regard, but he’s a horse that’s well capable of getting a superstar, which we’ve seen, and that’ll happen again,” a confident Freyer said.
“Following the Covid year, he covered two big books, so we’re going to see a lot of two-year-olds next season and the season after and he’ll get back to where he was.
“In the interim, we felt that putting him in a space in the market which we think makes him competitive and provided a great opportunity for breeders.”
Maurice’s return crop of yearlings have sold up to $600,000 this year.
Castelvecchio could, Freyer believes, provide breeders with a low-cost entry to the potent High Chaparral (Sadler’s Wells) sire line, one that provides plenty of upside by the time the spring comes around.
“He’s only had a handful of runners, but he’s got a couple that have competed very well in the good races. There’s plenty of trial winners, so I am confident we’ll see some good action from him over the next three or four months leading into the season, so that fee’s going to look good value,” Freyer said.
“[Dundeel’s son] Super Seth’s started off well and Castelvecchio was a Classic-winning three-year-old and a Cox Plate three-year-old, so when we see them next season there’s some really nice horses out there.
“I am confident that he’ll mimic his career in some ways, that’s what we’re hoping anyway.”
Arrowfield sires are responsible for generating more than $100 million in returns to owners and breeders this season alone and Snitzel, whose influence shows no signs of slowing down, is a big contributor to that figure.
His current crop of yearlings have achieved an aggregate of more than $40 million in 2024, a mark Snitzel has reached five times in the past eight years.
“He’s been there, done that so many times and he’ll probably serve a reduced book this year, but he’s the go-to horse in the Hunter Valley for fertility, which is great, and access to him will be somewhat restricted,” Freyer said of Snitzel.
“So, I expect that he’ll be fully booked in no time at all.”
Showtime (Snitzel) will not return to the Arrowfield roster.
Arrowfield Stud stallion roster (all fees inc GST)
2024 2023
Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) $247,500 unchanged
Dundeel (High Chaparral) $88,000 $82,500
The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) $66,000 unchanged
Maurice (Screen Hero) $55,000 $82,500
Castelvecchio (Dundeel) $22,000 $27,500
Admire Mars (Daiwa Major) $22,000 unchanged
Hitotsu (Maurice) $22,000 unchanged