Arrowfield has confirmed that The Autumn Sun will sit out the 2024 breeding season as he continues his recovery from a pelvic injury suffered in March.
The Group-1 winning son of Redoute’s Choice had a scan this week which showed the injury was on the mend, but that he wouldn’t be fit to serve mares through the breeding season.
“The Autumn Sun is otherwise in good health and coping well with his recuperation. We are confident he will make a full recovery and resume stud duties in the 2025 season,” an Arrowfield statement said.
The rising nine-year-old has been under close veterinary care and restricted to box rest at Arrowfield since his injury.
The timing is not ideal given The Autumn Sun is coming off a tremendously successful season with his progeny on the track.
He is the leading second-season sire by winners with 45, while he just trails Trapeze Artist in second-season sires ranked by prize money.
He has had three Group 1 winners from his first crop, Autumn Angel, Coco Sun and Vibrant Sun, while he achieved a rare Group 1 trifecta when Vibrant Sun led home Private Legacy and Coco Sun in the Australasian Oaks.
Only two sires in the past 40 years have achieved a Group 1 trifecta in an Oaks or Derby in Australia or New Zealand.
Since retiring to stud as a five-time Group 1 winner, The Autumn Sun has served books of 167, 134, 131, 159 and 101. He has stood for $66,000 in his first five seasons.
He is not the only young sire who has been a late withdrawal from the 2024 Australian breeding season. Darley confirmed that Too Darn Hot, who will be Australia’s champion first-season sire, would not shuttle back to its Kelvinside base in the Hunter Valley in 2024.
Bren O’Brien
