Vinnie to stand for $275,000 (inc GST) this season

Cover image courtesy of Yarraman Park Stud

Coming down in fee is I Am Invincible with the stud's Arthur Mitchell keen to reward his supporters whilst Hellbent and Brave Smash (Jpn) - both in great form - also offer value by remaining at their 2023 fees.

Last spring, I Am Invincible was $302,500, but it is now $275,000 (inc GST). His in-form son Hellbent is staying at $38,500 (inc GST), while Brave Smash should continue to prove popular at $33,000.

“We just wanted to fit well into the market place,” Mitchell told the Thoroughbred Report, adding that “we want to make it as fair as we can for breeders.”

Vinnie the history maker

Grafton (GB), Maltster, Valais (GB), Heroic, Beau Pere (GB), Delville Wood (GB), Star Kingdom (Ire), Bletchingly, Sir Tristram (Ire), Danehill (USA) and Snitzel... some of the great names of Australasian breeding and the only stallions to have won the Champion Sire title three years running.

Well and truly on track to add his name to that illustrious list this year is Yarraman Park's I Am Invincible whose season earnings beyond $29 million put him very close to a record - the first stallion to break $30 million in a racing year.

And it would take a herculean effort by those behind him - Zoustar, So You Think (NZ) and Pride Of Dubai - to catch up with I Am Invincible who sits nearly $10 million ahead of his nearest rival with just a few rich races left to be run for the 2023/24 season.

A remarkable season

It has been a remarkable season for I Am Invincible, who won last year's champion sire title with $23.4 million and the previous with $19.8 million.

And it will be his seventh time in the top two, his eighth in the top four. He also leads the way by a number of stakes wins (27), sharing the lead with Zoustar with a number of stakes winners (14).

He had his headliner - the recently retired Imperatriz - as well as a high-class juvenile, Move To Strike, who charged to the line when taking out the G1 Manawatu Sires Produce S. a few weeks ago.

His statistics continue to impress. His winners-to-runners strike rate is currently 79.5 per cent, while his stakes-winner ratio is 9.4 per cent.

He has provided a variety of breeders, owners and trainers with quality performers, and it is the mark of a stallion who has reached into the lives of so many that he is known throughout the sport by his nickname... "Vinnie."

It is an honour reserved for only a few - "The Big O," "The Black Flash"... it takes a horse of certain character and success to have an affectionate moniker so widely used, and I Am Invincible is one such horse.

Naturally flowing from his success on the track is his demand in the sales ring, with Arthur Mitchell proudly noting that "10 per cent of his yearlings this season have made over a million dollars - a phenomenal achievement."

Record breaking filly

With so much attention on the Pierro x Winx (Street Cry {Ire}) filly, it was a little overlooked that I Am Invincible also had a record-breaking moment - his filly out of the G1 Oakleigh Plate winner Booker (Written Tycoon) becoming the second highest priced filly in Australian history, secured for $3 million by Resolute Racing.

Standing this season at $275,000 (inc GST), I Am Invincible is also beginning to make his mark as a broodmare sire with six stakes winners.

A record Arthur Mitchell is confident that I Am Invincible can improve upon - "he still has the progeny of his fillies out of the better families to come," he said.

I Am Invincible is also doing very nicely as a sire of sires... and beyond!

Already, five of his sons have been represented by stakes winners, four of those by Group 1 winners. His grandson Tassort is currently the second-leading first-season sire.

The heir apparent

One of his most promising sons also calls Yarraman home. This horse outperformed his sire on the track, winning the G1 William Reid S. and six other races from 23 starts.

Popular since his retirement in 2018, Hellbent is following in his father's footsteps in terms of leading the field - around $2 million ahead of his nearest rival as leading third-season sire, with the likes of Magic Time, Benedetta, Hell Hath No Fury, Kristilli, and Fully Lit proving such good representations of the breed.

On the back of his early success, Hellbent's fee rose from $22,000 to $38,500 (inc GST) last spring and it remains at that level this year.

“With the progeny of better quality mares coming through, he is going to keep stepping up,” Mitchell said.

Another horse to have hit the ground running is Brave Smash (Jpn), the dual Group 1 winning sprinter who kicked off his career at Aquis before Yarraman acquired a controlling interest last year.

Brave Smash - they train on

Again, at last year's fee of $33,000 (inc GST), Brave Smash proved popular with New South Wales breeders, and Mitchell was happy with the support - “he served a great book of mares," he said, adding that he "could not be happier with the way his progeny have trained on from two to three."

Not surprisingly, the tough and classy filly Kimochi - winner of the G2 Light Fingers S. - is a Yarraman favourite, being the daughter of an I Am Invincible mare.

“With her honesty and consistency, a filly like her is a great advertisement for the stallion,” Mitchell said, adding that Yarraman has been supporting him with a number of I Am Invincible mares.

“We are very happy with the talent Brave Smash's progeny are showing,” he said - “the ones we've seen all try really hard and he has capable of siring a high class Group horse.”

Whilst the fees for Hellbent and Brave Smash remain the same as last year, I Am Invincible comes back from his 2023 price of $302,500 (inc GST).

“We just wanted to fit well into the market place,” Mitchell said, adding that "we want to make it as fair as we can for breeders.”

Table: 2024 Announced Stallion Fees for Yarraman Park Stud