Darley in Lexington, Ky., has announced the advertised stud fees for its 2021 roster, led by top commercial sire Medaglia d’Oro at $150,000.
“These are trying times breeders are facing,” said Darley sales manager Darren Fox. “We gave great consideration to this when setting our fees to reflect the economic reality of today,” Fox continued.
“Breeders are attempting to navigate a sales environment that is both unpredictable and difficult,” Fox continued. “Subsequently, all but one of our stallions will see a decrease in stud fee from last year. We sincerely appreciate the past support from breeders, and we are looking forward to a better and brighter 2021.”
Medaglia d’Oro’s fee will be set at $150,000 following another excellent year in 2020. He is currently the number one yearling sire in North America by both average and median and was represented by four million-dollar-plus offerings in 2020, the same number he was represented by in 2019. No stallion can match his 20 million-dollar yearlings since 2016.
With a total of 75 worldwide group or graded winners – 25 at the highest level – Medaglia d’Oro’s propensity to consistently produce quality racehorses was further exemplified this year when his son Moretti won Saratoga’s Birdstone Stakes, making him the all-time leading sire of black type winners at Saratoga with 20. His Grade 1 winner Higher Power is a contender for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic.
First-crop sire phenomenon Nyquist will stand for a fee of $75,000 in 2021. His 10 juvenile winners to date include Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes winner Vequist and G1 Summer Stakes winner Gretzky the Great, both slated to run in the Breeders’ Cup next month.
Two G1 winners in any crop is no small feat for any stallion, but two from a freshman crop puts Nyquist in rarified air. Not since Danzig in 1984 has a stallion had two Grade 1 winners so early in his career. This quick success was reflected at the yearling sales this year as prices for his yearlings included $635,000 (top colt for a second-crop sire), $510,000 (top-priced filly for a second-crop sire), and $500,000. He is the leader of his sire crop by yearling average and median two years running.
Progeny of Street Sense, with a 2021 stud fee set at $60,000, are once again excelling on the track. No stallion can top his four graded stakes-winning dirt colts this year: unbeaten Maxfield in the G3 Matt Winn, multiple Grade 1 winner McKinzie in the G2 Triple Bend, juvenile TDN Rising Star Cazadero in the G3 Bashford Manor, and 3-year-old Shared Sense in the G3 Indiana Derby and G3 Oklahoma Derby.
Bernardini and Hard Spun will both stand for $35,000 next year. Bernardini’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile-bound son Art Collector joined the list of the nation’s best sophomore colts with a win in the G2 Blue Grass Stakes, while daughters Lady Kate and Micheline have both recorded Grade 1 placings with the latter under consideration for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. No stallion under $125,000 can top his 22 graded winners on dirt since 2015 and he has more Grade 1 winners, graded winners and black type winners as a broodmare sire than any 17-year-old stallion in history.
Hard Spun’s current top runners include Grade 1 winner Hard Not to Love, Saratoga Oaks winner and multiple Grade 1-placed Antoinette, plus 10-length Churchill debut winner and TDN Rising Star Beautiful Memories. No stallion can top his three Grade 1-winning 3-year-olds over the past two seasons.
Frosted, the record-breaking Met Mile winner, is priced at $25,000 for 2021. His nine juvenile winners to date include G1-placed TDN Rising Star Travel Column, TDN Rising Star Inject, Saratoga winner Restored Order, recent Belmont winners Likeable, Frost Me and Ten for Ten, and his latest winner, Inspector Frost, who won at Keeneland on Oct.18. He is the only freshman with multiple TDN Rising Stars and he’s the only stallion in America with three juveniles to have run an 80+ Beyer this year.
Street Boss’s current crop of 2-year-olds is one of the best-bred groups of his career. Only Into Mischief can boast more juvenile stakes horses than Street Boss this year. Another reflection of the quality of his 2018 crop can be seen in a $760,000 2-year-old at the sales. Street Boss’s new fee will be $15,000.
Medaglia d’Oro’s Group 1-winning son Astern will shuttle from Australia again and his first foals will be 2-year-olds of 2021. His fee will be $7,500 next year. His first crop of Northern Hemisphere yearlings were received very well in 2020 with prices that included $100,000, $90,000 and $87,000.
Lifetime statistics for Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Midshipman ($7,500) continue to position him as one of the best-priced stallions in Kentucky. His 17 percent career black type horses from starters is among the best in the business – no stallion under $50,000 can do better, and his eight black type winners and 16 black type horses in 2020 are the best of any stallion $25,000 and under.
Enticed, another son of Medaglia d’Oro who has made a strong start at stud, will stand for a fee of $7,500. His first season in 2020 reflected firm support from breeders who sent him 148 mares.
