IRELAND

HIGHLAND Reel, one of the Aidan O’Brien challengers for this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup, will be one of three new sires at Coolmore for the 2018 season. A fee has yet to be set for the six-time Group 1 winner. A fee has also to be set for Churchill, also running at Del Mar, while new sire Caravaggio will stand for €35,000.

The stud fee for Galileo remains private, while Fastnet Rock’s fee has been published this year and the son of Danehill is the most expensive of the stallions with a listed fee, commanding €70,000.

Gleneagles (€40,000) and Australia (€35,000) are both unchanged, while successful first season sire Camelot has his fee reduced by €5,000 to €30,000. Four sires will stand for €25,000 and they are Mastercraftsman (unchanged), No Nay Never (up from €17,500), The Gurkha (unchanged) and Zoffany. The latter, a proven Group 1 sire, drops from €35,000. All the remaining sires have either have their fees left unchanged or reduced slightly, and they include proven Group 1 sires Excelebration, Footstepsinthesand, Holy Roman Emperor, Rock Of Gibraltar and Starspangledbanner.

BALLYLINCH ROSTER

Ballylinch Stud announced its stallion fees for next season. Their roster is headed by Lope de Vega who has sired four individual Group 1 winners in 2017. He goes up €10,000 to €60,000. Managing director John O’Connor said: “Lope de Vega has established himself as a leading international sire and 2018 sees the start of his biggest and best crops hit the track, so the future looks very positive for him.”

New Bay, a Group 1 classic winning son of Dubawi from the family of Oasis Dream and Kingman, remains at €20,000 for 2018. O’Connor commented “New Bay got great support not just from outside breeders but also his shareholders. China Horse Club sent 20 quality mares and have already committed 20 again to him for 2018. Juddmonte have also sent him some real nice mares and will continue to do so next season.”

Lawman, sire of five individual Group 1 winners, will stand for €15,000 in 2018. He commanded €25,000 this year. The son of Invincible Spirit has a live classic hope in the unbeaten Luminate. Make Believe’s first foals sell this year and the dual Group 1 winner will stand for €15,000, a small decrease from €17,500.

Fascinating Rock’s first foals hit the ground in 2018 and he remains at €10,000. This multiple Group 1 winning son of leading international sire Fastnet Rock received great support in his first year at stud. Beat Hollow remains at €6,000 and is a proven Group/Grade 1 sire under both codes. His first Ballylinch sired crop are four-year olds.

BRITAIN

Simon Mockridge announced this week that Frankel’s fee for 2018 would rise for the first time, going up £50,000 to £175,000. He said: “Frankel has had a sensational start with his first two crops, and 2017 has seen him described as being one of the most elite sires in the northern hemisphere. His strike rate of 12% group winners to foals is remarkable, and his 2014 crop has produced 13 group winners so far, a number matched only by Galileo in the northern hemisphere. A quarter of Frankel’s runners to date have won blacktype – with his tally of blacktype performers currently standing at 30. His 2017 season began with a classic winner in Japanese Oaks winner Soul Stirring, and closes with the stunning performance of Cracksman – officially now the highest rated horse in Europe – in the Group 1 Champion Stakes.”

KINGMAN UNCHANGED

Champion miler Kingman is unchanged at £55,000 and his first crop yearlings were extremely well-received at the sales. They sold for an average of over £244,000 (37 sold) and a top price of £1.7 million guineas. Bated Breath has made a better start at stud than his sire Dansili and his fee rises from £8,000 to £10,000. This year Bated Breath has sired over 50 winners, with seven individual blacktype performers highlighted by leading juvenile Beckford.

The veteran Oasis Dream sees his fee drop from £50,000 to £30,000 and he must be considered outstanding value at the price. He has produced more Group 1 winners, group winners and blacktype winners than any other stallion from the Green Desert line, including Green Desert himself. Finally, Dansili, sire of Group 1 winning two-year-olds, a classic miler, an Arc winner and two Breeders’ Cup winners, will be available at an unchanged £65,000 to a restricted book in 2018.

LANWADES QUARTET

All four sires at Kirsten Rausing’s Lanwades Stud have their fee unchanged for the 2018 season. The German Derby winner Sea The Moon, whose first yearlings have been enthusiastically received by buyers, is the most expensive of the quartet at £15,000.

Bobby’s Kitten stays at £12,500 and the first foals of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner are due in the spring. Archipenko, a proven Group 1 stallion, stands for £10,000, while Dewhurst Stakes and Derby winner Sir Percy is available for £7,000.

NATHANIEL INCREASE

Nathaniel, sire of the brilliant Enable, will see his fee increase slightly to £20,000, up from £17,500, while Equiano, sire of the dual Group 1 winning sprinter The Tin Man, remains at his 2017 fee of £8,000.

Newsells Park Stud’s general manager, Julian Dollar said: “We always felt that Nathaniel’s progeny would improve markedly from two to three, but even we could not have imagined that his first three-year-old crop would make such a significant impact. Enable is quite simply a phenomenon. Very few stallions sire a horse as good as her in their entire career. For Nathaniel to produce a horse of her ability with his very first crop marks him out as a special stallion.

“However, Enable was not the only horse by Nathaniel who improved spectacularly during their three-year-old career. A dozen three-year-olds by Nathaniel are rated 100 or higher; seven colts and five fillies. Nathaniel offers breeders exceptional value at £20,000. I don’t believe there is another proven young stallion standing in Europe that is capable of siring runners of that class for anything close to that fee.

“Equiano is a potent source of speed and a model of consistency. Thirteen group or stakes winners from his first three crops, including six group or stakes winning two-year-olds, mark Equiano out as stallion that should appeal to breeders looking for speed as well as great value.”

FRANCE

Ballylinch Stud’s Dream Ahead remains in Haras de Grandchamp for 2018 at the same fee of €12,000. The leading third crop sire in Europe this year, he has had an excellent season with seven individual stakes winners headed by the Group 1 winner Al Wukair.