A decade ago, when Fastnet Rock claimed the second of his Australian sires’ titles, there was only one stallion aged over 20 in the top 10 on the Australian sires table, Encosta De Lago, while the average age of that elite set was 14.1.
As it stands in 2024/25, the average age of the top 10 Australian stallions is at a historic high of 17.6 and there are five stallions who have passed their 20th birthdays.
There are several likely explanations for this quite dramatic skew in the demographic in Australia’s best-performed stallions.
Snitzel and Fastnet Rock, who both featured in that 2014/15 list, are having revival seasons in 2024/25, while fellow Australian champions I Am Invincible and Written Tycoon remain at, or near the top of their games when it comes to progeny performance.
But it is also a trend that has been coming for some time. Since 2021/22, when the average age of a Top 10 stallion in Australia was 15.6, that data point has crept to 16, then 16.2 and now 17.6 to this point of this season.
The constant presence of I Am Invincible, Snitzel and Written Tycoon in that time has helped push that average ever northward. Given the quantity and quality of numbers they continue to have, we can expect that to be the case for some years.
Written Tycoon’s oldest crop from his Yulong times is only just two, while the crop from I Am Invincible’s highest fee season of $302,500 has only just hit the ground in the spring.
The other 20-plus year-old stallion in the current Australian Top 10 ranks is Little Avondale’s Per Incanto, who has had his own remarkable late-career revival.
The youngest stallion currently inside the Australian Top 10 is Extreme Choice who is 11, followed by Pride Of Dubai, who at 12, leads the way thanks to a significant contribution from Everest winner Bella Nipotona.
Bren O’Brien
Australia has not had a stallion under 10 years of age feature in the Top 10 of our ranks since 2019/20, with Zoustar (9) and Rubick (8). Going back over the past decade, there have only been three other stallions to make the Top 10 when younger than 10, Pierro (twice), Sebring and Northern Meteor.
The top sire under 10 in the Australian sire tables currently this season is Justify, who is ranked 29th.
The explosion in Australian prize money across the past decade has no doubt played its role in that skew to older stallions, given experienced sires with more runners will be significantly advantaged when it comes to sires tables.
Average ages and years at stud for Australian top 10 stallions since 2014/15
*incomplete season
Courtesy of Arion.co.nz
What is also significant is comparing the age of Australia’s top stallions to those in other jurisdictions overseas.
The Straight went through the current sires' tables of 10 different jurisdictions and determined that the average age of Australia’s top 10 stallions is the oldest in the world by some margin.
Australia on 17.6 leads New Zealand on 17.2 and Germany on 17.1. Ireland is on 16, Great Britain and Japan on 15.9, France on 15.3, Italy 15.2. South Africa 14.9 and the USA/Canada 14.8.
The contrast with the United States is arguably the most interesting, given it features the two biggest racing nations worldwide.
A decade ago, Australia’s top ranks were significantly younger, 14.1 to 14.9 on average, but while the metric for the USA has remained steady, the average age of a top 10 stallion in Australia has increased by 20 per cent.
Into Mischief will comfortably claim his sixth North American sires’ championship in 2024, but does not turn 20 until January 1. The only sire above 20 in the top 10 there is Curlin, currently seventh.
At 11, Gun Runner will finish second and his progeny have won the most prize money in any year of any stallion aside from Into Mischief in history. The Three Chimneys Farm-based star is the heir apparent to the current champion.
Bren O’Brien
A comparison between them at the same stage of their breeding careers sees Gun Runner with nearly three times as many winners (228 to 81) and 2.5 times the stakes winner (25 to 13) as Into Mischief.
But there are also two 10-year-old stallions in the top 10 of the American ranks, Practical Joke and Not this Time. Practical Joke, like Gun Runner, only has four crops at the track, while Not This Time has 41 stakes winners, including seven Group 1 winners from five crops.
One of those Group 1 winners, Cogburn, will stand at Widden Stud next season.
There are three stallions 10 and under in the Top 10 in Great Britain. Justify and Havana Grey are both nine, while Blue Point is 10. Dubawi (22) and the late Galileo (who would have been 26), help skew the average to 15.9. Dark Angel, 19, will finish top of the GB-sire table for the first time.
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Mehmas and Churchill, both 10, are the youngest in Ireland’s Top 10, led by 16-year-old Frankel.
Kizuna will claim the title of Japan’s leading sire this year for the first time at age 14. He had been champion first-season sire in 2019 and second-season sire in 2020.
Drefong is the youngest sire in the top 10 at 11, while last year’s champion sire Duramente, now 12, will finish fourth. Hearts Cry and Sinister Minister are the only two above 20 years on the Japanese list, which has an average of 15.9.
Average ages and years at stud of Top 10 stallions around the world
Courtesy of Arion.co.nz
*incomplete season
