THREE new Group 1 winners in 2017 has seen sire Sea The Stars have his covering fee raised by €10,000 to €135,000 for next year.

The multiple Group 1 winner has been consistently ranked amongst the top five leading European sires and boasts the ratio of 10.2% of stakes winners to runners and 16.3% of stakes performers to runners in 2017.

The Aga Khan-homebred Siyouni has seen his fee soar from €45,000 to €75,000. The leading French-based sire, he was represented by juvenile Group 1 winner Laurens, unbeaten juvenile Group 3 winner Sacred Life, and classic runner-up and Royal Ascot winner Le Brivido.

He is ranked fourth leading European sire of two-year-olds on prize money and in order of stakes winners to runners (8.8%), with all his four crops to race conceived at just €7,000. Siyouni is currently fully booked for 2018.

The impeccably bred Zarak, a handsome Group 1 winner by Dubawi out of the champion Zarkava has recently joined Haras de Bonneval where he will stand for €12,000.

His stable companion who also presents an attractive pedigree, Dariyan, the only Group 1 winning son of Shamardal standing in France, will see his fee unchanged at €8,000 for his second season at stud.

They will be joined in the New Year by Charm Spirit, whose first yearlings were very well received and sold for up to €500,000 to buyers including Shadwell, Coolmore and Juddmonte Farms. His fee has been set at €20,000 in 2018.

In Ireland, dual Derby winner Harzand stands alongside his sire Sea The Stars at Gilltown Stud. His quality as a racehorse is matched by his excellent conformation and his first foals are eagerly awaited in 2018. His fee remains unchanged at €15,000.

Another close relative to Sea The Stars, his three-parts brother Born To Sea, was the sire of classic second Sea Of Grace from his first crop of three-year-olds where 80% of his runners have won or placed. His fee of €5,000 represents a 50% drop from this year.

GILLTOWN STUD FEES FOR 2018 (2017 FEE IN BRACKETS)

SEA THE STARS €135,000 (€125,000)

SIYOUNI €75,000 (€45,000)

CHARM SPIRIT €20,000 (same)

HARZAND €15,000 (same)

ZARAK €12,000 (new)

DARIYAN €8,000 (same)

BORN TO SEA €5,000 (€10,000)