The ongoing confusion over the Pattern in Australia may have robbed Kia Ora Stud’s Farnan of his first recognised stakes winner, but the Golden Slipper-winning sire sits comfortably on top of both the first-season sires table and the Australian 2YO sires table early in the season.
While the Golden Gift may have had Group 3 status for the first time according to Racing Australia, the upgrade to black-type status for the $1 million race has not been recognised by pedigree companies, or internationally.
It is one of a suite of New South Wales races which received upgrades under new black type guidelines, but that haven’t been recognised more broadly because that new process has not been ratified by the Asian Pattern Committee (APC).
Those upgrades have been a source of tension between the APC and Racing Australia, with other states refusing to announce upgrades to eligible races until the issue is sorted.
The impact for a young stallion such as Farnan is that when the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale catalogue is released this week, he won’t be credited with having a black-type winner.
His first-crop colt North England, trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott won Saturday’s $1 million race ahead of West Of Swindon, who is by the first Australian crop of Coolmore sire Wootton Bassett.
North England is owned by the Newgate syndicate and a black type win on his resume would also be significant to his potential value as a stallion. Currently he has a black type placing from his third in the Breeders’ Plate.
As Australian sire championships are decided by prize money, not black-type wins, Farnan does lead the first-season sire table comfortably thanks to North England, with $603,400 in progeny earnings.
That is almost twice as much as Yulong’s Lucky Vega who had his first Australian winner when Within The Law won Saturday’s Inglis Banner at Flemington.
That race was only eligible to Inglis graduates, but is a black-type race, afforded Restricted Listed status. Lucky Vega has also had a winner in New Zealand from his first Australian crop.
Ole Kirk is the other Australian freshman sire with a stakes winner to his credit, thanks to Breeders’ Plate victor King Kirk.
Widden’s Doubtland has also had an Australian first-crop winner, while Newhaven Park’s Cool Aza Beel has had a winner in New Zealand.
There have been 28 progeny of first-season sires make their racetrack debut in Australia this season and a further four in New Zealand.
Farnan also leads the Australian 2YO sires table early in the season, ahead of Lucky Vega and Spirit Of Boom, who is one of two sires with multiple Australian juvenile winners so far this season.
The other is Snitzel, while there are 20 stallions in total with two-year-old winners in Australia so far this season.
Snitzel also has had two winners in New Zealand, giving home four winners from five for his current juvenile crop.
