Can the ‘little Aussie battler’ run down one of the best sires in the world?.
For months the Australian Second Season Sires division has been dominated by Yarraman Park’s I Am Invincible, but with his Darley based rival Medaglia D’Oro (USA) producing Golden Slipper winner Vancouver last weekend, I Am Invincible now finds himself in a chasing role for the first time to regain his position at the top.
A clear Champion Australian First Season Sire last year by winners, earnings and stakes-winners, I Am Invincible has been quick to deliver more of the same this year.
With 38 winners this season from 75 runners giving him a 50% winner to runner strike rate, I Am Invincible has been riding high with his star colt Brazen Beau putting the icing on the cake with Group I wins in the VRC Newmarket Handicap and VRC Coolmore Stud Stakes.
All was looking good for a Champion Australian Second Season Sire title for I Am Invincible, until Vancouver!
Leading Australian Second Season Sires by Earnings (figures from Arion)
|
Rank |
Stallion Ccode Yof – To Stud |
Rnrs |
Wnrs |
SW(SWins) |
Earnings |
Best Performer |
|
1 |
Medaglia d’Oro (USA) 1999 – 2005 |
55 |
21 |
3(6) |
$3,400,320 |
Vancouver – 2,362,000 |
|
2 |
I Am Invincible (AUS) 2004 – 2010 |
75 |
38 |
1(3) |
$2,682,990 |
Brazen Beau – 1,109,200 |
|
3 |
Turffontein (AUS) 2004 – 2010 |
31 |
11 |
2(5) |
$1,364,722 |
Fontein Ruby – 715,500 |
|
4 |
Manhattan Rain (AUS) 2006 – 2010 |
55 |
24 |
1(1) |
$1,267,185 |
Moonovermanhattan – 206,400 |
|
5 |
Nicconi (AUS) 2005 – 2010 |
73 |
25 |
1(1) |
$1,062,310 |
Chill Party – 193,500 |
|
6 |
Denman (AUS) 2006 – 2010 |
60 |
15 |
1(2) |
$924,780 |
Kuro – 323,550 |
|
7 |
Mastercraftsman (IRE) 2006 – 2010 |
23 |
11 |
1(1) |
$784,490 |
Thunder Lady – 375,775 |
|
8 |
Red Element (AUS) 2004 – 2010 |
64 |
20 |
0(0) |
$770,125 |
Glorious Red – 99,650 |
|
9 |
Onemorenomore (AUS) 2006 – 2010 |
57 |
19 |
1(1) |
$667,840 |
Onemorezeta – 177,475 |
|
10 |
Big Brown (USA) 2005 – 2009 |
67 |
15 |
1(1) |
$647,780 |
Neverland – 158,850 |
The win of Vancouver has put Medaglia D’ Oro some $700,000 in front of I Am Invincible in overall earnings, giving the son of Invincible Spirit quite a task to catch his rival given his best horse Brazen Beau is Royal Ascot bound without another start in Australia.
Then came the news Vancouver was headed for the spelling paddock rather than the Triple Crown and a window of opportunity opened.
Both young stallions will need some new stars as we move towards the back end of the season and if I Am Invincible can produce a good one he may well make a race of it.
One thing’s for sure, it’s a rivalry that will add interest to the coming months of racing as we see whether the ‘little Aussie battler’ can run down one of the world’s best stallions.
Medaglia D’Oro might be classed as a Second Season Sire in Australia, but he was in fact well established when he arrived here in 2010 and covered his first book of Australian mares at a fee of $88,000.
The fee says it all really, very few shuttle stallions come here and can command that sort of money and he covered his next two seasons here at $77,000 before dropping back to $55,000.
Just for a second consider the difference in class of mare covered by Medaglia D’Oro in his first two seasons here as opposed to I Am Invincible at a fee of $11,000.
These are the racehorses that are competing against each other right now (two and three year-olds) and the fact that there is competition at all between the two sires suggests I Am Invincible has the makings of a remarkable stallion given his ability to upgrade some fairly pedestrian mares to produce a torrent of winners.
Both stallions are very different in pedigree and physical conformation, so we are lucky to have them given the industry has been dealt a few savage blows in the last few years with the premature loss of Northern Meteor and Beneteau as well as established star sires Commands, Street Cry (IRE) and High Chaparral (IRE), not to mention the retirement of Encosta de Lago.
I Am Invincible and Medaglia D’Oro are two that have the potential to step right up to the mark and take their place, so we’ll be following their progress to the end of the season with great interest.
