Darley has announced the stud fees for their 23 stallions that will stand in Australia for the 2014 breeding season.
The Darley stallions sired the winners of 25% of the G1 races in Australia in 2013. Those 18 G1’s have been complemented by a further 11 G1 races around the world won by the progeny of Exceed And Excel, Street Cry, Lonhro, Commands, Medaglia d'Oro, Bernardini, Reset, Street Boss and Strategic to date.
Heading the roster in 2014 are Exceed And Excel, Australia’s reigning Champion sire and Street Cry, one of the world’s best stallions. Both will stand at a fee of $110,000 (inc. GST).
Exceed And Excel has continued his dominance of the world’s two-year-old racing with Outstrip brilliantly winning the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last November and Earthquake winning February’s G1 Blue Diamond Stakes. Exceed And Excel’s other superstars of recent times include four-time G1 winner Guelph and the brilliant G1 Al Quoz Sprint winner, Amber Sky.
Among Street Cry’s fifteen G1 winners is Long John, outstanding winner of the G1 Caulfield Guineas, whose victory made Street Cry the first stallion in almost thirty years to sire multiple winners of that race. In addition, Street Cry continued his dominance in America where his son, New Year’s Day impressively won one of the world’s best two-year-old races, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita last November.
After siring Pierro in 2013, Champion Lonhro couldn’t have started 2014 in any better style with daughter Bounding’s defeat of older rivals in the G1 Railway Stakes on January 1. Lonhro’s global appeal and popularity only continue to grow as evidenced by his $840,000, record-breaking yearling filly price at Easter earlier this month. His fee in 2014 will remain unchanged at $88,000 (inc.GST). Standing alongside Lonhro is his son Denman, whose first crop of two-year-olds have made a brilliant start on the racetrack, among them Law, winner of the Listed Breeders’ Plate. Denman will stand at a fee of $33,000 (inc. GST).
Joining the recently announced Dawn Approach and Epaulette as new stallions, both of whom will stand at Kelvinside at a fee of $27,500 (inc.GST), are two Darley homebreds: the handsome and blue-blooded Albrecht, and the blisteringly-fast son of Exceed And Excel, Kuroshio.
By Champion Redoute’s Choice and out of a full-sister to Champion Lonhro, Albrecht won on debut in Sydney before claiming the G3 Up and Coming Stakes - won previously by the likes of Fastnet Rock, Exceed And Excel and the red-hot Snitzel – at only his third start. Albrecht next stepped out in the G1 Golden Rose, flashing home from last position only to be beaten just a nose by stablemate Epaulette.
Kuroshio, a lightning-fast Listed winner on debut in the October of his two-year-old year, runner up to Dissident in last year’s Blue Diamond Preview and winner of the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude, was a super-tough two-year-old. In the spring of his three-year-old year Kuroshio’s best win came when he was too speedy for multiple G1 winners Moment Of Change and Platelet in the G2 McEwen Stakes, won in previous years by some of Australia’s best sprinters, Hay List, Miss Andretti and Buffering.
Both Albrecht and Kuroshio will stand at a fee of $8,800 (inc. GST). Albrecht will stand at Kelvinside in NSW and Kuroshio will stand at Northwood Park in Victoria.
Alastair Pulford, Darley’s Head of Sales in Australia said, “2013 was our best year yet. Our stallions sired the winners of more G1 races than ever before, we became the first stud in history to stand three of the top four stallions in the country and we have just come away from an exceptional Easter sale where Street Cry was the leading stallion by average and several of our other stallions had record-breaking sales.
Exceed And Excel, who will head our roster with Street Cry, deserves special mention. He’s sired five individual G1 winners since April last year. The only stallion in Australasia who can match that is Fastnet Rock. He is not only one of Australia’s best stallions, he’s now one of the best in the world.”
Pulford continued, “It’s important to keep the younger stallions coming through and our roster will be further strengthened by the inclusions of Dawn Approach, Epaulette, Albrecht and Kuroshio this year. We have been thrilled with the results of Denman and Medaglia d’Oro’s first crops on the track, and the first foals of Sepoy, Helmet, Poet's Voice, Skilled and Benfica will be selling at the forthcoming breeding stock sales. It will be a busy and exciting 2014 and we very much look forward to welcoming breeders to Darley in the coming months to see our stallions and to discuss their mating plans.”
For a full list of fees please click here.
For further information please visit www.darley.com.au or contact Alastair Pulford on +61 410 683 461 or apulford@darley.com.au.