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Plays of the Week
From tight corners to trick shots, these are the most exciting, silly and downright crazy plays in the sport world this week.
PT2M13S 620 349Arrowfield Stud has once again led the major Hunter Valley farms by being the first to announce their 2016 stallion prices with their champion stallion Redoute's Choice - and two of his sons Snitzel and Not A Single Doubt - heading their honour roll after fantastic achievements in the current racing and breeding season.
Redoute's Choice fee stands unchanged at $110,000 inc GST and rightly so with his tally of group 1 winners now totalling 28 and his yearlings having a tremendous strike rate at the just completed Inglis Australian Easter Sales where 20 averaged $573,250 with three fetching seven-figure sums.
Snitzel has deservedly received another price increase from $88,000 to $110,000 with the former group 1 racetrack performer supplying five million-dollar yearlings at the latter sales and the sale-toppers at all three major Australian auctions. Snitzel's black-type performances keep rising with five stakes winners since January 1.
Show me the money: Capitalist's two-year-old success in the Magic Millions and Golden Slipper means his sire Written Tycoon's service fee has gone up 250 per cent. Photo: Jason McCawley
Not A Single Doubt has had a sensational 2015-16 season thus far running second behind Winx's sire - the ill-fated Street Cry - in the Champion Stallions Premiership. He also leads the premiership by individual winners with 115 of his progeny successful and winning a total of 180 races up until last Wednesday.
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He has had three group 1 winners amongst his 10 stakes winners and he had only two yearlings catalogued at Easter with one of them, a colt from Colorado Claire, bringing a record $850,000.
Not A Single Doubt's 2016 service fee has more than doubled from $33,000 to $71,500 inc GST.
Arrowfield also has three new stallions on their 2016 roster and two - Scissor Kick and Panzer Division - are also highly regarded sons of Redoute's Choice who will stand at $16,500 and $9900 respectively. The other newcomer is the Japan superstar Real Impact, a son of the brilliant Japanese based sire Deep Impact, and becomes the first son of his sire to stand in the southern hemisphere.
His price is $19,250 inc GST and Real Impact should meet with a great deal of response with the horse performing splendidly at the 2015 Championships during the Sydney autumn carnival winning the group1 George Ryder Stakes.
Arrowfield have a total of 12 stallions standing and have dropped the covering fees Animal Kingdom from $33,000 to $27,500 and Charge Forward reduces from $16,500 to $11,000.
The 2015 service fees remain the same for Dundeel ($27,500), Smart Missile ($22,000), Olympic Glory ($19,250) and Manhattan Rain ($16,500) with all four sires having excellent numbers from breeders.
"These 12 stallions represent the best lines of Danehill and the best outcross of options we can source for Australasian breeders." Arrowfield chief John Messara declared.
"We believe the three new stallions are priced very attractively with Real Impact appearing great value while Scissor Kick and Panzer Division both commence their seasons at the same prices respectively as did Not A Single Doubt and the deceased Beneteau."
Stallion increases
Three stallion increases have been announced by studs whose sires have made a great impression in 2015. Yarraman Park Stud has upped the price of last year's first season champion sire Hinchinbrook from $16,500 to $38,500 per courtesy of Press Statement's achievements and having a colt sell at the Easter Sales for $1 million. I Am Invincible will remain at $55,000 inc GST.
The Melbourne stud Woodside Park has increased Written Tycoon, the sire of Golden Slipper and Magic Millions winner Capitalist, from $19,800 to $49,500. Emirates Park's shuttle sire Artie Schiller goes from $13,200 to $22,000 after some excellent juvenile performers this season spearhead by Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper placegetter Flying Artie.
Coolmore spends big
Coolmore Stud was one of the biggest spenders at this week's Tattersall's Craven Breeze-Up Sale signing for the top two lots. On Tuesday the Irish-based stud signed for an Invincible Spirit colt for 360,000 guineas and then the following day bought a colt by shuttle sire The Factor in conjunction with US stud Stonestreet Farm. The Factor stands the southern hemisphere breeding season at Newgate Farm.
Other Australian shuttle stallions whose progeny performed well were Zoffany, who had two-year-olds sell for up to 320,000gns; Helmet, who had progeny sell for 210,000 gns and 200,000 gns; More Than Ready, a colt for 220,000 gns and an Exceed and Excel colt for 100,000 gns.
American watch
▪ Uncle Mo continued his great run of success with his three-year-old son Outwork giving him his third grade 1 winner in the Wood Memorial (8 1/2f) at Aqueduct last Saturday. He has a total of 12 stakes winners and his son Nyquist is a red hot favourite to win this year's Kentucky Derby after notching his seventh straight win in the Santa Anita Derby.
▪ US horse of the year in 2010, Zenyatta (Street Cry), lost her second foal by stallion War Front on Wednesday. A release from Lane Ends Farm and Team Zeny said: "It's with heavy hearts that we must announce the the passing of Zenyatta's 2016 colt foal by War Front." Zenyatta's first foal, Cosmic One (Bernardini), has been unplaced at her two starts; her second foal Ziconic (Tapit) was placed at her debut in February while her 2014 foal, a War Front filly, died in a paddock accident. The mare was not covered in 2015.
▪ Songbird (Megdalia d'Oro) continued her terrific form when taking out the grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks (8 1/2f) last Saturday. She goes into the Kentucky Oaks with a seven out of seven record as well and is long odds-on to win the classic for three-year-old fillies.