STUD FEES : Is the top still sustainable?

Mick Goss
(Arc Dubai)

The one game that appears to have remained impervious to the financial world’s warnings of woe in the international economy, is the thoroughbred market. Across the length and breadth of the world, events during the past three month’s thoroughbred auctions point to a boom in prices on an unprecedented scale, and our piece on Australian stud fees last week, tells us that studmasters in that part of the world are as bullish as ever about the state of racing’s economy. A glance at those stallions whose owners have announced fees for the forthcoming season in South Africa, points to much the same, with all of Western Winter, Fort Wood and Jet Master still occupying the ethereal heights at R200 000-R250 000 a piece. There is a significant gap between those three and a trio of horses in Count Dubois, Jallad and Trippi (the Rupert’s new acquisition) on R100 000 a pop, while there have been significant increases for Silvano (R60 000) Captain Al (R70 000) and National Emblem (R80 000).

One question remains: In a market as limited as ours, can breeders expect to make a consistent and reasonable return on R200k plus service fees, when there are three stallions sharing that market? Of course, the question is of academic value ultimately, to the extent that most “armchair” breeders are driven largely by perception (as is the case in Australia), and they will continue to pay whatever it takes in order to access those stallions that occupy the top of the charts, whatever the commercial consequences.

The real world however, is the one in which professional breeders live and they have to keep asking themselves whether, in dedicating that sort of cash to one or two mares, they are not spending a disproportionate sum on a relatively narrow number of mares, at the expense of the broader herd. At the end of the day, the long-term viability of one’s stud depends upon the success of the farm at large, and it seems to make both commercial and strategic sense to spread the budget across a bigger spectrum of horses, rather than concentrating it so tightly, in the hope of one “big hit”, while raising the risk staked on those mares substantially in the process.

In our experience, great stallions get almost as many ordinary foals as good stallions do, and that means that only the very best foals become proper money-spinners. For every “ordinary” foal you get by an expensive stallion, you start wishing you had ten by the horse that stands for considerably less, and for which you outlaid a fraction of the money.

For reader’s interest, here are those local fees already published :

Sire	Standing	2007 fees	2008 fees
Indigo Magic	Arc n Ceil	R 10,000	Free
Joshua Dancer	Avalon	R 5,000	To be announced
Var	Avontuur	R 35,000	T b a
Tamburlaine	Cheveley Stud	R 10,000	R10,000
Badger's Drift	Cheveley Stud		R10,000
Tiger Hunt	Connington	R 10,000	R 5,000
Qui Danzig	Daytona		R10,000
Manshood	Gary Player		R 6,000
Wolfhound	Gary Player		R10,000
Dynasty	Highlands Stud		R12,000
Jallad	Highlands Stud	R 100,000	R100,000
Spectrum	Highlands Stud	R 80,000	R80,000
National Assembly	Highlands Stud	R 80,000	book full
Windrush	Highlands Stud		R15,000
Albert Hall	Klawervlei		R 8 000
Captain Al	Klawervlei	R 35,000	R70,000
National Emblem	Klawervlei	R 65,000	R80 000
Jet Master	Klipdrift Stud	R 200,000	R200,000
Parade Leader	Lammerskraal Stud	R 15,000	R15,000
Western Winter	Lammerskraal Stud	R 200,000	R250,000
Count Dubois	Litchfield	R 100,000	R100,000
Trippi	L'Ormarins		R100,000
Black Minnaloushe	Maine Chance Farms	R 90,000	R90,000
Silvano	Maine Chance Farms	R 50,000	R60,000
Victory Moon	Maine Chance Farms	R 30,000	R30,000
Fort Wood	Mauritzfontein Stud	R 200,000	T b a
Strike Smartly	Mauritzfontein Stud	R 25,000	T b a
Dupont	Normandy		R 5,000
Saumarez	Odessa		R40 000
Ecomium	Rathmor		R 5,000
Woodborough	Rathmor	R 10,000	R10,000
Daylami	Riethuiskraal Stud	R 80,000	R80,000
Imperial Stride	Riethuiskraal Stud		R35,000
Grey's Inn	Rosedene Stud	R 20,000	R20 000
Goldkeeper	Sandown Stud	R 50,000	R50,000
Ashaawes	Sandown Stud		R12 000
Meisques Approval	Scotts	R 35,000	R35,000
Overlord	Scotts	R 8,000	R 8,000
The Sheik	Scotts	R 5,000	R 5,000
King of Kings	Somerset	R 30,000	T b a
Requiem	Springvalley	R 10,000	R15,000
London News	Starston Stud	R 6,000	R 6,000
Toreodor	The Alchemy	R 12,000	R12 000
Eyeofthetiger	The Alchemy		R 8,000
Right Approach	Wilgerbosdrift	R 20,000	R20,000
Tiger Ridge	Wilgerbosdrift	R 80,000	R80,000

No doubt, there will be those enquiring as to when Summerhill’s fees will be announced. Of course, we’re not masters alone of these, as they require the sanction of some of our principals in Dubai, and that involves transocean discussion before we release them. It’s become practice for us to deal with them at the end of May, so for those of you who are looking forward to them, please keep that date in mind.