“Lies, damn lies and statistics…” is a cliché that’s often trotted out to dispel hard core facts and empirical data. And, yet, as we continue down the mind-boggling path of generative AI, data is rapidly becoming a treasure trove of insights for all business disciplines. At its core, the Black Type Premiership operates on one simple reality: the numbers don’t lie and are what they are.
Ahead of the famous Scone Racing Club double-header on Friday and Saturday, the Hunter Valley’s Yarraman Park Stud is entitled to be on cloud nine. With just three stallions on their 2024 roster, including two emerging sires, the odds are firmly against them having all three in the Top 20 of the 2023-24 Australian Black Type Stallion Premiership. And yet, they do. Reigning Black Type Stallion Premier and General Champion Sire I Am Invincible is London to a brick on to take both titles again after claiming Wednesday night’s HTBA Champion Stallion award.
With the apple seldom falling far from the tree, Vinnie’s Group 1-winning son Hellbent continues to rocket up the charts, having just celebrated a second individual Group 1 winner, Benedetta, to go with dual Group 1-winning daughter Magic Time. With the likes of Hell Hath No Fury, Fully Lit, Miss Hellfire and Kristilli also making useful contributions at stakes level in recent months, Hellbent is in ninth position.
That leaves Japanese-bred stallion Brave Smash. Five Group 1 sprint performances in Australia is a pretty solid foundation for a young stallion, so it’s little surprise that Brave Smash is proving to be up to the challenge. With 32 winners from 58 starters, the son of Tosen Phantom is best known for his daughter Kimochi who leads the Australian Black Type 3YO Premiership and who recently sold for $2.2 million at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale.
Sadly, Gr1 Blue Diamond fourth Brave Halo tragically lost his life and we’ll never know just how good he was. All told, there are 285 individual stallions to have sired an Australian stakes performer this season. For one farm to have their only three stallions in the Top 20 is not just a statistical difficulty, it’s a rubber stamp of genuine class.
Copy: Black Type Racing
