Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Pharoah to shuttle to Australia
Triple Crown winner American Pharoah will stand at Coolmore Australia during the 2017 Southern Hemisphere breeding season, which begins Sept. 1. He will depart for the international outfit’s farm in the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney in New South Wales, in July before returning at the end of the year.
“We have been overwhelmed by interest from Australasian breeders in American Pharoah ever since he retired to stud in Kentucky,” Coolmore Australia’s Tom Magnier said. “It’s well recognized that he is a once-in-a-lifetime horse, and the opportunity to bring him to Australia is an irresistible one.”
American Pharoah is in his second Northern Hemisphere season at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky, where he stands for a private fee. He stood his initial season for an advertised fee of $200,000 – although some breeders reportedly were allowed to breed two approved mares for the price of one – and covered 208 mares, including 47 Grade/Group 1 winners or producers.
American Pharoah’s fee in Australia will be 66,000 Australian dollars (about $50,668). Most stallions who raced solely in the U.S. debut at lower fees in the Australian market before proving themselves.
More Than Ready, now an immensely successful shuttle sire, stood his first season at Vinery Australia in 2001 for roughly $11,220 after entering stud for $25,000 that year in Kentucky. Grade 1 winner Warrior’s Reward shuttled to be part of the initial roster at Spendthrift Australia in 2015 and stood for $8,555, far less than his Kentucky fee of $25,000.
While those stallions, by Southern Halo and Medaglia d’Oro, respectively, were by turf-type sire lines well known in Australia, American Pharoah represents a different type of prospect, as the Unbridled line has little representation on the continent. Sire Pioneerof the Nile has high-class turf runners such as Grade 1 winner Midnight Storm but has never had a runner in Australia. Grandsire Empire Maker – a son of Unbridled – does have solid turf and synthetic runners worldwide.
Magnier also noted that American Pharoah’s pedigree provides an outcross opportunity for the Australian mare base.
“I was at Belmont Park the day he won the third leg of the Triple Crown, and I can honestly say I have never seen a racehorse like him in my life,” Magnier said. “He is a faultless physical specimen and free of Danehill blood, so [he] is a perfect complement to our own band of Fastnet Rock and Danehill mares. We will be supporting him with our own quality mares, and we have already had a number of top breeders approach us with the intention of supporting him heavily.”
American Pharoah will be the first American Triple Crown winner to stand in Australia. Coolmore was among the first to build dual-hemisphere careers for stallions, and the practice took off when its prolific sire Danehill shuttled from Ireland to Australia for the 1990 season.
American Pharoah will head to Australia at a time when breeders have optimism over the long-term health of their local industry, as the New South Wales Planning Assessment Commission recently rejected a proposal to build an open-cut mine in the Hunter Valley area that breeders feared would have polluted nearby farms with dust. Spendthrift cited the mine proposal as one reason it set up its Australian stud operation in Victoria rather than New South Wales.
“All breeders should welcome the PAC’s decision, as it recognizes that the Hunter is one of the most important Thoroughbred regions in the world,” said Basil Nolan, president of Australia’s Thoroughbred Breeders Association.
The mine rejection paves the way for the government to rule out other development projects in the area, and the Thoroughbred Breeders Association is calling for protection zones around key farms. This optimism should fuel excitement for American Pharoah’s arrival.
“He excelled in everything he was ever asked to do,” Magnier said.