Racing
Race for sire premierships hotting up
A look at the stallion premierships standings with three months of the season remaining.
Thursday marks three-quarter-time in the Australian racing season and a number of the stallion premierships are still up for grabs with little separating those at the head of the leaderboard.
General Sires
Two horses yet to be crowned Australian Champion Stallion lead the way in the earnings premiership with Pride Of Dubai ($21,336,387) clinging to a lead over Zoustar ($21,010,453)
Bella Nipotina's The Everest prizemoney accounts for large chunk of Pride Of Dubai's earnings, but the Coolmore stallion has also thrown Group 1 winners Deny Knowledge and Dubai Honour and his premiership hopes could rest on how Pride Of Jenni fares at the Queensland carnival.
Zoustar has had more total wins than any sire and will also have strong representation in Queensland, headlined by his William Reid Stakes winner Schwarz, who is favourite for the Doomben 10,000.
Third in the prizemoney premiership is four-time winner Snitzel ($19,429,743), while I Am Invincible ($18,440,508) and Written Tycoon ($16,517,353) round out the top five.
Zoustar's 244 wins for the season have been accumulated by 162 horses, which leaves him two wins short of I Am Invincible in the battle for the leading-sire-by-winners title.
First-Season Sires
Ole Kirk is in the box seat to scoop the pool in the freshman awards, leading the way by prizemoney, individual winners and total wins.
Ten of his 19 starters have been winners, banking 13 wins between them for earnings of $2,782,170.
Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner O' Ole has been his star performer but he has also produced the late King Kirk, Prestige Forever and last Saturday's brilliant Group 3 SA Breeders' Stakes winner Legacy Bound at Stakes level.
Vinery-based Ole Krik leads Coolmore's Wootton Bassett ($2,360,800) in the earnings category, with Farnan ($1,669,900) a distant third.
Farnan, who has had more starters than any freshman sire with 24, sits second in both the individual winners (nine) and total wins (12) categories.
Second and Third-Season Sires
Two awards that look done and dusted are the leading second-season and third-season sire awards with Too Darn Hot and Harry Angel holding commanding leads over their nearest rivals.
Too Darn Hot's progeny, which includes Broadsiding, Rivellino, Shanwah and Too Darn Discreet, have amassed $8,846,910 in earnings, affording him a big lead over Castelvecchio ($5,637,657) in the premiership category while he leads Pierata 43-37 in the individual winners' section.
Harry Angel is an even more decisive leader of the third-season sire earnings premiership, the likes of Tom Kitten, Private Harry, Angel Capital and Arkansaw Kid, helping him amass $11,814,139 in earnings, which is more than double second-placed The Autumn Sun ($5,650,103).
The Autumn Sun leads the winners premiership on 63, five clear of Justify with Harry Angel third on 55.
Broodmare Sires
The race to be crowned leading broodmare sire also looks over with Fastnet Rock set to back up his maiden win in that award last year.
Progeny from daughters of the former champion Coolmore stallion have amassed $28,789,836, which affords him a comfortable lead over multiple winner Redoute's Choice ($21,903,993) and emerging broodmare sire force Snitzel ($21,486,977).
Fastnet Rock has had 264 winners for the season as a broodmare sire, the most by any, but trails Redoute's Choice 386 to 381 in terms of total winners.
Age-related sires
It is no shock that Snitzel, the sire of Golden Slipper winner Marhoona, holds a commanding lead over Ole Kirk in the leading two-year-old sire with $4,138,395 in earnings.
Snitzel sits second in the three-year-old premiership, with $8,148,276 in earnings, trailing Written Tycoon on $9,333,755.
The one going down to the wire is leading four-year-old sire where I Am Invincible ($8,797,894) holds a narrow advantage over Zoustar ($8,569,791).
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