While impatiently waiting for the upcoming flood of 2007 stud fee announcements, I’ve been debating with our staff about which stallions will have increased stud fees next year. Here is my list candidates who a) are likely to fill their books quickly, and b) will have a higher stud fee in 2007 than they did in 2006, all of this based on the performance of their progeny in 2006.
FIVE STAR DAY stands at Wintergreen Stallion Station in Midway, KY. He stood for $15,000 in 2006. With his first crop 3yo’s of 2006, he’s been an atypical son of Carson City to date. Carson City and his sons at stud are known for precocious 2yo’s who excel at sprint distances. In fact, the average winning distance of all of Carson City’s SWs is 6.8 furlongs. Five Star Day’s first 2yo crop, on the other hand, ended the year with just nine winners and one SW. But they’ve come on like gangbusters in 2006 with 24 more first-crop winners bringing his total to 31 winners from 62 foals. More importantly, he’s now had four first-crop SWs to go with two second-crop SWs this year. Interestingly, the average winning distance of his six SWs is 7.9 furlong, a full furlong longer than Carson City. If Five Star Day’s progeny continue to display multi-dimensional talent in stakes-level company, he could be something special.
JOHANNESBURG stands at Ashford Stud in Versailles, KY. He stood for $25,000 in 2006. Johannesburg’s first crop has come out of the gate running! He’s had five SWs (3 in America/2 in Europe) with three of them graded, ranking him No. 1 among freshman sires. And, he’s currently 2nd to Officer for leading freshman sire honors by progeny earnings. One of Ashford’s strong suits is that they always, in my opinion, keep their stallions attractively price and adjust stud fees whenever necessary to maintain demand. So, I’m sure they’ll raise Johannesburg’s stud fee but I think it will be a modest increase, even considering the success and quality of his runners to date.
MORE THAN READY stands at Vinery in Lexington, KY. He stood for $30,000 in 2006. With his first crop now just 4yo’s, he has tallied 12 unrestricted SWs (7 of them first-time SWs) in 2006, ranking him 3rd nationally among all stallions in this category. Moreover, he has a whopping 27 SWs from his first four crops while his first three crops have averaged EIGHT SWs per crop. As the quality of his books of mares get better (no doubt they will considering his stats), I expect to see his stakes winner production to follow suit.
OFFICER stands at Gainesway in Lexington, KY. He is currently North America’s leading freshman sire by progeny earnings, North America’s leading sire of 2yo winners (tied with Yonagushka), and second to Johannesburg in SWs with 4. What more needs to be said? Not bad for a stallion who stood for $15,000 in 2006. You can surely forget about $15,000 in 2007!
Well, that’s it for this blog. More to follow.