Snitzel will leave a lasting legacy not only to Arrowfield Stud but also to the Australian thoroughbred industry, John Messara says in the wake of the champion sire’s death.
A four-time premier Australian stallion, Snitzel died on Wednesday, aged 22, with the Arrowfield chairman remembering the “wonderful” stallion whose sire line will continue for generations to come.
Snitzel, the sire of three Golden Slipper winners Estijaab, Shinzo and this year’s scorer Marhoona and 14 other Group 1 winners among his 160 individual stakes winners, was euthanised by veterinarians after succumbing to a liver complaint, which had declined in recent weeks.
“He's been the best son (of Redoute’s Choice), I suppose, and it's a question of backing what you believe in, and he certainly came good,” Messara told The Straight.
“He started off reasonably slowly, but he really picked up steam, and in the last decade he's been amazing, (winning) multiple Australian championships and two-year-old championships, all those sorts of things, so he's been wonderful.”
Trained by Gerald Ryan, Snitzel was from the second crop of Arrowfield-based Redoute’s Choice, who would be crowned a champion Australian stallion on three occasions, winning seven of his 15 starts, including a Group 3 Skyline Stakes at two.
He defeated subsequent Golden Slipper-winning colt Stratum, another son of Redoute’s Choice, in 2005 and at three he again defeated that horse when taking out the Up & Coming Stakes.
He would run fourth against older horses in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes and it was after that campaign when Messara and his Arrowfield partners bought into the colt.
Bren O’Brien
Snitzel would justify the investment, winning the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate, defeating Takeover Target before finishing runner-up in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap when the tables were turned by the Joe Janiak-trained rags-to-riches sprinter.
Retired to stud in 2006 at a fee of $33,000 (inc GST), Snitzel’s fee was reduced in his fourth season, to $22,000, but then his fortunes turned when his third crop hit the track.
His first crop produced three stakes winners, his second none, but 14 black type winners emerged from his third crop and 26 from his fourth.
Messara marvels at the feats of Snitzel, the sire of 80 Australian three-year-old stakes winners, equal to that of Redoute’s Choice and his grandsire Danehill.
“It's difficult to tell, but I guess with time, you understand how to mate them better, and so you can sort of help them along a little bit, but nature takes its course, and away he went,” he said.
“He seems to work with a variety of mares, and he gets sprinters, milers and the odd stayer, so he's an enormously versatile horse.
“It's been a great line, the Danehill line in this country, so it's not really a surprise that he's got one like him who is a champion.”
Revered as a sire of sires, as well as his ability to produce an elite filly, buyers supported his current yearlings, that being his 17th crop, with the 2023-born yearlings averaging $656,889, the highest figure of his career.
With an elite 10.4 per cent stakes winners to runners ratio, Snitzel has 105 weanlings on the ground and he covered 114 mares last year at a career-high fee of $247,500.
“He's been well managed by the team and our vets all the way through, but he's been an easy horse to work with, a very compliant horse and a great character, a bit like the Redoute’s line, the Danehill line,” Messara said.
“They're laid back and easy-going horses, and so they're easy to look after. They're loved by their attendants, and that was the case here.”
Among his 33 sire sons currently at stud are Shamus Award, Wild Ruler, Russian Revolution, Lofty Strike, Best Of Bordeaux, Shinzo and Switzerland, with 17 of his sire sons producing stakes winners themselves.
He was champion sire for four consecutive seasons, from 2016-17 through to 2019-20 and was also champion two-year-old sire on four occasions, and is on track for his fifth title this season, while he was also twice leading three-year-old sire.
Snitzel was being prepared for a 20th season at stud when his health deteriorated.
“He leaves a terrific legacy. The industry, beyond us … everyone seems to have benefited from his existence,” Messara said.
