Australian breeders looking to send mares boom young stallion Too Darn Hot have been forced to make alternative plans, with the presumptive champion first-season sire to remain in England and not travel to Australia for the upcoming spring.
Too Darn Hot, whose first crop of Australian stars include multiple Group 1 winner Broadsiding, was set to stand at Darley’s Kelvinside property in the Hunter Valley for a much-boosted fee of $110,000 in 2024.
He has made a huge impression with his first Australian two-year-old crop, which has featured 12 winners, while his progeny earnings of $4.13 million is a record for any first crop stallion in Australia.
He will be crowned Australia’s champion first-season stallion at the season’s end. He will be the first British-bred stallion to claim that honour this century.
Given that, he was expected to be one of the most popular stallions in the Hunter Valley, despite his price rise from $44,000.
Breeders are now scrambling to secure alternative bookings to their mares after they were told by Darley over recent days that the son of Dubawi will remain at Dalham Hall Stud this Australian spring, and not return to Australia for a fifth season.
"Following nine straight seasons covering full books in both hemispheres, it has been decided to give the horse a break from shuttling," a Darley statement said.
No specific reason was given, but his success in the Northern Hemisphere has arguably made him too valuable to shuttle, much like Dubawi himself, who came to Australia for three seasons early in his record-breaking breeding career.
Too Darn Hot has produced nine stakes winners from his first two Northern Hemisphere crops to date, including multiple Group 1 winner Fallen Angel. He stood for £65,000 ($A123,000) in 2024.
A three-time Group 1 winner on the track, Too Darn Hot was bred and raced by Watership Down Stud, who retain a controlling interest in him as a stallion.
In his four seasons in Australia, Too Darn Hot has covered 130, 131, 132 and 121 mares respectively.
