LOPE De Vega's stud fee will be raised from €100,000 to €125,000 next year. He heads a team of five stallions at Ballylinch Stud whose fees were published on Tuesday evening.

Sire of four more Group 1 or Grade 1 winners this year, Lope De Vega had yearlings sell for up to 900,000gns this year.

When he retired to stud in 2011, Lope De Vega's stud fee was €15,000. It was as low as €12,500 in 2014 but has rocketed in recent seasons, following top-level wins by the likes of Belardo, Zabeel Prince, Phoenix Of Spain, Newspaperofrecord in the northern hemisphere plus plenty more in Australia.

New Bay is also on the rise, from €15,000 to €20,000. His first crop of two-year-olds has produced four stakes horses including Group 2 winner New Mandate and the unbeaten Group 3 winner Saffron Beach.

Third season sire Make Believe was chiefly represented by Prix du Jockey Club winner Mishriff, plus group race winners Believe In Love, Ocean Fantasy and Rose Of Kildare. His fee rises from €12,000 to €15,000.

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Waldgeist stays at €17,500 for his second season, while Fascinating Rock has been trimmed from €7,000 to €5,000.

Ballylinch managing director John O'Connor said: "Lope de Vega’s rise to the very top of the stallion ranks continues. This year’s crop of two-year-olds included his 11th and 12th Group 1 winners with Lucky Vega taking the Phoenix Stakes, while Aunt Pearl crowned a magnificent year with her dominant display at the Breeders’ Cup.

"There were four Group 1 winners among his 37 stakes performers, while his yearlings averaged almost 3.5 times his 2018 fee and sold for up to 900,000gns.”

On New Bay's fine start, O'Connor said: "Statistically, he is very strong with 50% winners/runners and seven horses rated over 90 from only 22 starters in Britain and Ireland. He had a really strong year at the yearling sales, with his progeny selling for up to 400,000gns and an outstanding average of €85,000.”

Noting how the form of Waldgeist's win in the 2019 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe was boosted repeatedly this year by Ghaiyyath, Magical, Sottsass and Enable, O'Connor reported that Waldgeist covered 117 mares in his first season and 95% of his book had blacktype under their first dam.

"Ammerland entrusted Lope De Vega to Ballylinch and Waldgeist has every opportunity to follow in his footsteps," said O’Connor.

Of Make Believe, O'Connor said: "What especially impresses me is his progeny’s will to win, and we can see that with 46% winners/runners - that’s the best of any sire with at least 25 runners in Britain and Ireland.”

O'Connor would not be surprised to see stock by Fascinating Rock improve with age. He said: "He’s off to a solid start already with three winners and another four placed from 16 runners. Fascinating Rock improved 40lb between his sole two-year-old start and May of his three-year-old career. All the signs point to his progeny also improving significantly over the winter."

He added: "We are thrilled with the results of our stallions this year, and very grateful to the breeders who made these achievements possible. We feel we have priced our stallions fairly to give breeders every opportunity to continue our shared successes into the future.”

BALLYLINCH STUD FEES FOR 2021 (2020 fee in brackets)

Lope De Vega €125,000 (€100,000)

New Bay €20,000 (€15,000)

Waldgeist €17,500 (same)

Make Believe €15,000 (€12,000)

Fascinating Rock €5,000 (€7,000)

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