Studmasters across Australia have reacted to the broader decline in the bloodstock market by dropping the service fees of their commercial stallions ahead of the 2024 season.
Research undertaken by The Straight indicates that 43 per cent of those stallions standing above the $10,000 mark have had their fee reduced on what they were in 2023. That is a significant jump from the 28.6 per cent which had a fee reduction last year.
Stepping back through recent seasons, the respective percentages of commercial stallions who experienced a fee drop in 2022 and 2021 were 22.5 per cent and 29.9 per cent.
In 2020, with the uncertainty of the pandemic at its height, 58.6 per cent of stallions in that plus $10,000 bracket had a price reduction.
The average price reduction of a commercial stallion in 2024 currently stands at $532. By comparison, in 2020, it was a much more significant drop of $4014. In the intervening three seasons, the average price change has risen by $1973 (2021), $2852 (2022) and $63 (2023).
The percentage of stallions in that bracket who have had a fee rise is at its lowest since 2020. Just 15 of the 93 commercial stallions announced to date, 16.1 per cent, have had an increase.
The figure for that was 20 per cent last year, 23.5 per cent for 2022 and 19.6 per cent in 2021.
The uncertainty during 2020 meant only 6.9 per cent of Australian commercial stallions had a fee rise.
The other figure in this date set is, of course, those which stayed steady. As it stands, 40.9 per cent of commercial stallions will stand for the same fee as they did in 2023. That was the first time since 2020 that less than half of stallions at $10,000-plus remained steady.
Service fee changes in Australian stallions - 2024
Another measure of relative stallion prices is to look at the average price of those who are new additions to stallion rosters.
There have been 17 new stallions announced for 2024 to date in that price bracket, with an average fee of $25,688. In 2023, there were 13 at an average of $34,481. In 2022, the average fee of a new stallion was $37,017, while it was $30,550 in 2021 and in 2020, it was $24,009.
This data point is particularly interesting as new stallions this year will be priced on the 2024 market. Studmasters tend to keep steady on a stallions’ fee through their first four years before their progeny hit the track.
On that point, what has also been noteworthy this year is the number of second-year stallions that have had fee reductions in 2024. Newgate cut the price of its second-season trio In The Congo, State Of Rest and Artorius, Widden did the same with Jacquinot as did Coolmore with Best Of Bordeaux.
Given their first foals haven’t even hit the ground yet this year, it is fair to say that has been a purely market-driven decision.
While there has been a reckoning on service fees, it is worth noting that when it comes to the average fee of these commercial stallions, things are still historically high.
The average 2024 fee of the 106 stallions in that $10,000-plus category is $40,822. That is a slight reduction on what it was in 2023 ($41,250) and 2022 ($42,297) but a jump on 2021, when it was $35,084 and 2020 when it was $31,345.
Put simply, the average service fee of a commercial stallion in Australia has increased 30.2 per cent in the past five seasons.
Staff Writer
The reason for this is the increasing price of stallions at the very top end. In 2020, there were six stallions which stood for $100,000 or more in Australia. This number hasn’t changed greatly and in 2024, it remains at six.
But the average price of those six-figure stallions has grown significantly. In 2020, it was $154,917, then jumped to $158,714 in 2021, then to $189,063 in 2022. Last year, it leapt above $200,000 for the first time ($201,143). This year, that average is $217,250.
That reflects the divided bloodstock market, where the top end remains very strong, but the remainder of the market is in a state of flux.
The average yearling price of the top four stallions on service fee in Australia this season, I Am Invincible, Zoustar, Extreme Choice and Snitzel, has been close to double (194 per cent) their 2024 fees. On any commercial terms, that seems a good investment.
Source: arion.co.nz
However, the market gets stickier as you go down the price brackets, and the buyers have been much more selective. The overall yearling clearance rate in Australia in 2024 has been 81.9 per cent, compared to 85.2 per cent in 2023. The total number of yearlings purchased has fallen by 149.
There have been 152 more yearlings passed in 2024 compared to 2023, and it is that figure, and the likelihood that it will persist going forward, which has forced studmasters to re-examine and reduce their prices.
