Four new faces join 100 winners club

Four new stallions have joined the 100-club this season, with 12 in all notching 100 winners for the 2018-19 season to date.

Another six stallions sit in the 90s, awaiting their chance to reach triple figures over the final five weeks of the season.

The four new inductees into the 100-club are Coolmore pair Pierro (103) and So You Think (NZ) (101) and Chatswood Stud's Reward For Effort (105) and Vinery Stud's All Too Hard (101).

They join I Am Invincible (170), Snitzel (168), Sebring (143), Written Tycoon (138), Fastnet Rock (106) and High Chaparral (Ire) (109) as well as Smart Missile (123) and Star Witness (115), who both broke through the triple figures for the first time last season.

The newest additions to the 100-club

Rich reward for consistency

Reward For Effort stands for the cheapest fee of the 100-club members, and will stand at Chatswood Stud at $16,500 (inc GST) this season.

Through his eight seasons at stud, he has built a reputation as a grass roots speed stallion who produces a high volume of winners, capable of winning across different seasons.

Chatswood's Nic Willis said it was those characteristics, plus the straight-forward nature of his progeny that had made him so appealing to breeders and trainers.

"They don’t need too much work, even as foals, they are always extremely friendly. He's still got a couple of better crops to come, with much better mares, as well as good numbers," he said.

"We’ll probably get another ten trainers who will book their mares directly into him this year because they all get the track and have speed. That's what you want, horses that can keep training on."

Interestingly, while Reward For Effort has had 105 winners so far this season, none of them have won at stakes level, with Fancy Rumble his stakes-placed runner. He has had six stakes winners in Australia in his career, with four winning at Group 3 level.

Willis says that with the consistency in place across his progeny, the increase in quality in coming years should mean that banner Group 1 horse is not far away.

"He has a lot of quality horses we are confident he can still get that big headline Group 1 horse. People are realising what he is, and how reliable he is, so I'd expect a big book for him, he's already booked more than he covered last year," he said.

The other notable aspect is the amount of breeders which have enjoyed success with his progeny. Of his 105 winners, there are no less than 63 different breeders.

"That's our client base. We are the oldest stud in Victoria and we have a lot of older breeders and there aren't many in Victoria who haven’t used him. He's been a bit of a stalwart for the state and people can rely on him," he said.

It's ten years this year since he won the G1 Blue Diamond S. but Willis says the stallion is in peak health ahead of what will be his ninth year at stud.

"He still looks in the prime of his life, which for a stallion who is rising 13, is about right. We’ve got him in a paddock next to the driveway. He loves watching the floats coming in thinking it’s a mare for him," he said.

100 comes all too easy

The concept of consistency is also key to All Too Hard's success at Vinery according to Bloodstock Manager Adam White.

The ill-fated Tarka, a black-type winner this season, became his sixth stakes winner when claiming the G2 Stan Fox S. inflicting the only defeat of The Autumn Sun's (Redoute's Choice) career.

All Too Hard leads the third-season sires on total wins this season with 171, having broken through for his first century of winners with Can’t Be Done's success at Sandown earlier this month.

"We were rapt to see him do it, he's certainly a consistent sort of horse. To break the ton, which his sire Casino Prince has done the last three or four years has been tremendous," White said.

Those 101 Australian winners are broken up into 50 from his first crop, who are now four, 43 from his second crop and eight from his current 2-year-old crop.

"They just train on. He was a very talented 2-year-old himself but I guess he isn't renowned as a 2-year-old sire. However, this year he's got eight individual 2-year-old winners, as well as Group 2 winner in South Africa," White said.

"Generally, they get better as they get older. I think with three full crops out there, that's why he's cracked the ton, they are training on and they are winning as they go along."

At $27,500 inc GST, All Too Hard is the equal third least expensive stallion in the 100 club, behind only Reward For Effort and Twin Hills' Smart Missile ($22,000 inc GST) and at the same price as Widden's Star Witness.

White feels his price point will be crucial to his future success as a stallion.

"He represents a good value because he has covered great book all the way through and he's got a lot of numbers still coming through, I think he's a horse who will help breeders keep their budgets in tow," he said.

"There are a lot of stallions jumping up quite considerably in price this year and you can go to him with a lot of confidence. He's continued to sell well, up to $320,000 at Magic Millions and $380,000 at Sydney Easter. He's just a horse that represents good value."

More prospective members line-up

Should the number of stallions with 100 winners remain at 12 it would be the equal lowest numbers to notch the milestone in a season since 2009-10, however that seems unlikely, given the line-up of sires on the brink.

Exceed And Excel and Bel Esprit sit on 95, with Choisir and Denman on 92, Not A Single Doubt on 91 and Blackfriars on 90.

It's an interesting comparison to last season, where there were a record 18 stallions with 100 or more winners. However, when you lower that threshold to 80 winners, the numbers so far this year (26) are very much comparable to 2017-18 (27).

The prospective stallions close to 100 winners