Snitzel has dominated the end-of-season winners tables
Australia’s most expensive sire for hire Snitzel has dominated the end-of-season winners tables to back up his skyrocketing service fee of $176,000.
The jewel in Arrowfield Stud’s crown landed a record-equalling 26 individual stakes winners in Australia, smashed the prize money record with $16.1 million and fell just one win short of Lonhro’s incredible 160 winners set in 2013/14.
His outstanding 2016/2017 season completed an unprecedented three-generation sequence of Australian sire championships with his own sire Redoute’s Choice (three titles) and grandsire Danehill (nine titles).
The son of Snippets’ Lass also lays claim to the first single-sire trifecta in a Group One two-year-old race since 1982, following Invader’s success in the ATC Sires Produce Stakes over Summer Passage and Trapeze Artist.
“He’s actually built up to this level of performance over several years. Bill Oppenheim’s APEX ratings first identified him in 2012, so the past year isn’t a flash in the pan,” Arrowfield proprietor John Messara said.
“Snitzel’s achievements this season were so dominant and so widespread that I believe his success will spill over into subsequent years.”
Globally, 29 of Snitzel’s progeny won black-type races with Summer Passage, Heavenly Blue, Invader, Redzel and Russian Revolution all winning Group One races.
That boosted the Snitzel fever at sales as 111 yearlings went for more than $41 million, including two individual sales of $1.7 million.
The 15-year-old’s service fee has gone up eight-fold since 2009 to sit at an impressive $176,000 and could go higher if his sire is any indication.
After Redoute’s Choice’s first title win, mare owners were more than willing to part with an eye-watering $330,000 during the 2007 and 2008 breeding seasons.
