Toronado’s on the rise, but his fee’s not
Swettenham Stud’s Sam Matthews has revealed the Victorian farm contemplated increasing the service fee of one of the state’s premier stallions, but elected not to as a strategy of long-term gain won out.
The Adam Sangster-owned Swettenham Stud has instead kept the $88,000 (all fees inc GST) fee of the farm’s headline act Toronado (High Chaparral) the same as it has been for the past two years.
The fees for Rubick (Encosta De Lago) ($27,500), shuttler Wooded (Wootton Bassett) ($22,000) and I Am Immortal (I Am Invincible) ($13,750) were also unchanged in Swettenham’s fee rollout on Monday night while Australia’s “most proven son of Shamardal” Puissance De Lune ($8,800) had his fee reduced.
In February, Swettenham announced it had purchased Group 2-winning sprinter Lofty Strike (Snitzel) as its first season stallion, introducing him at a fee of $22,000.
Former shuttler Toronado, now permanently based at Swettenham, has progeny earnings of $7.4 million in Australia so far this season while he continues to be a force to be reckoned with in Hong Kong courtesy of the feats of Hong Kong Classic Mile (Listed, 1600m) and a Hong Kong Classic Cup (Listed, 1800m) winner Helios Express and Victor The Winner taking out the Centenary Sprint Cup (Gr 1, 1200m) this season.
Back on home soil, Toronado’s El Soleado has won at Listed level this season as has Shesallshenanigans, who also won last year’s $1 million The Showdown (1200m), while Lady Jones and Laced Up Heels were stakes placed on Saturday in Adelaide and Perth respectively to underline the stallion’s propensity to sire an above average horse.
“We did talk about increasing his fee, and we talked about it last year as well, but we are of the opinion that while everyone is doing well out of him and he’s getting plenty of results in the sales ring and on the racetrack, just because we could increase service fees doesn’t mean that we will,” Matthews told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“We thought the people who were sending him good quality mares in the early days are still supporting him now, so we thought we’d keep him the same.
“People who have been asking are surprised that we haven’t put him up, which is fantastic feedback to get.”
With yearlings selling up to $600,000 this year and 110 individual winners in Australia so far this season, Toronado’s best is still yet to come, according to Matthews.
“Everything he’s done so far has been out of mares from $25,000 service fees. It’s only yearlings now that are off $45,000 and the weanlings and mares in foal that are off $80,000,” Matthews said.
“His pedigrees have improved dramatically … and next year will be his best crop to date.
“To think the quality of mares he’s getting now is a bit of a dream and quite incredible.”
The credentials of Rubick, whose dual Group 1-winning son Jacquinot stands at Widden, have been done no harm this year via the deeds of talented Reisling Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) winning Ciaron Maher-trained filly Erno’s Cube, who also ran third in the $1 million Percy Sykes (Gr 2, 1200m).
River Rubicon and Pericles have also won stakes races in Western Australia and New Zealand respectively this season.
A prolific sire of winners, totalling 106 so far this season with progeny prize-money earnings topping $7.2 million, Rubick’s fee was unchanged after covering 94 mares last season.
“It’s only Written Tycoon and Toronado who have had more winners than him from a Victorian sires’ point of view this season and he’s had a lot of good city winners who are knocking on the door of stakes level,” Matthews said.
“They can run, fillies or colts, it doesn’t matter and he’s got a bit of a presence in Hong Kong as well. He is a very, very good proven stallion with an enormous pedigree with huge numbers still coming through that haven’t had a run yet.”
Matthews believes Rubick fills a void for Victorian breeders.
“There’s not a lot of proven horses in Victoria in that $20,000 to $25,000 fee mark,” he said.
“There’s a lot of new stallions or emerging stallions and older stallions teetering on being commercial or not commercial whereas he’s a commercial prospect who gets good numbers and will throw you a sort that can run.”
Third season shuttler Wooded has one foal to be offered at next week’s Inglis Australian Weanling Sale while Swettenham intends on showcasing some others at the Great Southern Sale in June.
A southern hemisphere fee for his own sire, Coolmore’s Wootton Bassett, has not been set as yet, but it could go north of $100,000 given his deeds in the northern hemisphere and sales ring results in Australasia in 2024.
Matthews is delighted to have Wootton Bassett’s only Australian-based son at Swettenham, the extremely fertile Wooded.
“[Agent] John Foote was the first one to mention to us about Wootton Bassett many years ago. He was buying them out of France and we obviously followed him through as we love that Iffraaj sire line,” he said.
“It is really encouraging for Wooded to get more mares [93] in his second season than what he got in his first season [84] and that is a testament to the quality [foals] that he is leaving.
“For $20,000, you look at that and say we’re probably pricing him incorrectly, but we’re happy to look after people and happy for people to get a result out of him.”
I Am Immortal is another Swettenham sire who received more breeder support last year than in 2022, covering 121 mares, his biggest book in four years at stud.
He has sired two first crop winners including the stakes-placed Immortal Star from just seven runners to date.
Matthews said: “When he first went to stud, being such an early speed horse himself, I expected them to be early but they are big, robust, strong horses that take a little bit more time than we first expected.
“He’s only had seven runners with a couple of winners and a stakes performer with form out of the race.
“I’d have liked to have seen him have a few more runners but what we’ve seen so far is really encouraging.”
As for the early reception to the Rubiton Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) winning, Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m) runner-up Lofty Strike (Snitzel), Matthews couldn’t be more thrilled.
“People who are coming out and seeing him and absolutely loving him. People believe his fee is very reasonable and we think he can have a very, very good first year,” he said.
“He’s got a profile, people followed him through and that has certainly paid dividends [leading into] his first season and it will be the case in the sales ring in the years to come, too.”
Matthews reiterated that Swettenham wanted to look after its clients, those long-term and new breeders in light of the more difficult yearling sale trading conditions.
“We want people to know that we will look after them however that looks, we’re not here for the short-term, we’re here for the long-term and we want breeders to be of that same mindset,” he said.
“We’ll help you sell them in the sales ring, we’ll help you get them syndicated, we’ll do whatever we can to make sure that there’s more breeders out there for the better.”
Swettenham Stud roster (fees incl GST)
2024 2023
Toronado (High Chaparral) $88,000 unchanged
Rubick (Encosta De Lago) $27,500 unchanged
Lofty Strike (Snitzel) $22,000 new
Wooded (Wootton Bassett) $22,000 unchanged
I Am Immortal (I Am Invincible) $13,750 unchanged
Puissance De Lune (Shamardal) $8,800 $14,300