Russian Revolution a first for the Snitzel sireline

At certain points of this racing season, the Champion Sire titles have yo-yoed around big names. There was little between I Am Invincible and So You Think (NZ) through the autumn, while Maurice (Jpn) eased away from Capitalist in the race for second-season honours.

Sponsored video

Earthlight - undefeated Champion Two-Year-Old

However, one title that was less of a spectacle was that of Champion First Season Sire. It’s been wrapped up comfortably by Russian Revolution, who tops it by both earnings (ahead of Gold Standard) and winners (ahead of Hellbent).

With less than a week to go before season’s end, the Newgate stallion has delivered 14 winners to Hellbent’s 11. He’s ahead by overall wins too, boasting 17 to The Mission’s 13.

On earnings, Russian Revolution is over $250,000 clear of Gold Standard, and his stakes statistics are better than any other new stallion on the board this season.

He’s had two individual stakes winners (the G2 Blue Diamond Prelude {fillies} winner Revolutionary Miss and the G3 Pago Pago S. winner Rise Of The Masses) plus another two stakes performers. The only horse to challenge that was Gold Standard, who sired the Group 1-winning, dual stakes winner (and R. Listed stakes winner) Sheeza Belter, impressive from 39 foals.

Gallery: Russian Revolution's stakes winners this season, images courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

It’s been a roof-raising effort by Russian Revolution, who joined the Newgate roster in 2018 at a fee of $55,000 (inc GST). The horse’s debut crop featured 157 live foals and, with slick handling by Henry Field and his team at Newgate Farm, the result has been exceptional.

Russian Revolution will follow his barnmate, Extreme Choice, into Champion First Season Sire honours this week, and it will be the first time - possibly not the last - a son of Snitzel has won the title.

The sire-son dynasty

At Arrowfield Stud, 19-year-old Snitzel is heading into his vintage years at stud. He has 14 crops of racing age and he’s been Champion Australian Sire four times.

This season, he sits third behind I Am Invincible and So You Think on the General Sires’ table and, for the spring upcoming, he has returned to his career-best fee of $225,000 (inc GST).

A quick glance at the General Sires’ table right now reveals that Snitzel is the only stallion among the top 10 this season with a sire son also inside the top 10 (Shamus Award, who sits fifth). The last time this occurred was in 2018/19 when Redoute’s Choice was ninth on the overall sires’ title by earnings, Snitzel was first and Not A Single Doubt was sixth.

Russian Revolution represents the first time a son of Snitzel has won the title of Champion First Season Sire, and it’s interesting to note that Snitzel himself was denied this title by Stratum in 2009/10. The pair argued over the Second Season title the following year, with Stratum getting the upper hand again on the Arrowfield resident.

By the following year, Snitzel had climbed into the top 10 on the General Sires’ table, overtaking Stratum, and by 2013/14 he was behind only his own sire Redoute’s Choice overall. The rest, as they say, is history, and Snitzel has been nothing short of remarkable ever since.

It might have taken his sire sons a bit of time to get going, but now it appears they’re hitting their straps. Shamus Award is fifth on the overall table this year, and there are upcoming names like Trapeze Artist and Showtime.

In the case of Russian Revolution, he’s been a quick and resounding success at stud for his sire, with Snitzel’s best previous First Season effort being Spill The Beans. The latter was second on the First Season Sire table in 2019/20, and joint-first by winners (13) with Headwater.

“It’s very pleasing, but not too surprising, to see a Snitzel son head the First Season Sires’ premiership,” said John Messara, speaking to TDN AusNZ this week. “I’m also sure Russian Revolution won’t be the last one to do it. Snitzel has a good number of well-credentialled sons at stud in Australia now, including seven that have left stakes winners, and a dozen young stallions whose progeny are either yet to be born or yet to run.”

For the Arrowfield team, watching the evolution of Snitzel’s sire sons has been particularly interesting.

“It’s exciting to see his sire dynasty begin to take shape while he’s still at the top of his own game, both on the track and in the ring,” Messara said. “And the interesting thing is that, like Snitzel’s best son so far, Shamus Award, Russian Revolution found his best form after his 2-year-old season. That only increases my confidence in Arrowfield’s own Snitzel son, Showtime.”

For Henry Field, the studmaster at Newgate Farm, it’s arguable whether Snitzel has taken his time to blossom as a sire of sires.

“I remember having a discussion about this around two years ago, and there were a number of people that were negative on him being a sire of sires at that stage,” Field said. “But the reality is that it’s a little bit like Danehill. No horse had more bad sons at stud than Danehill because he had so many go to stud, but his good ones were incredible, and the same might be said for Redoute’s Choice.”

For Field, there’s no removing Snitzel as the best Australian sire right now. The horse is a multiple Champion stallion, as was Danehill (USA) and Redoute’s Choice.

“The really good sons of Danehill and Redoute’s Choice proved to be remarkable, and I have no doubt it will be the same with Snitzel,” he said.

Judge the best sons

Newgate’s faith in Snitzel’s sons goes right back to its early days, when Wandjina retired to the farm in 2015. Later on, the roster boasted Menari for a time, and these days it has Russian Revolution and a new gun, Wild Ruler.

“In my opinion, Snitzel is the best stallion in Australia and we’ve had a lot of success with him,” Field said. “We’ve raced sons of his, like Russian Revolution, Invader and Wild Ruler, so he’s been a good horse to us.

“His elite sons to go to stud are Russian Revolution, obviously, and Shamus Award and Trapeze Artist. These were standout horses, and you’ve got to judge a sire on his best sons to go to stud, not his average sons.”

According to the Stud Book, Snitzel has 25 sons at stud in Australia, and Field is measuring the horse's success not off those numbers, but off the records of his Cox Plate winner Shamus Award and now Russian Revolution. Both of these horses were at their best outside of their 2-year-old years, something Messara flagged and a fact that hasn’t escaped Field either.

“We’re seeing in those high-class sons of Snitzel that they weren’t early 2-year-olds, and that’s encouraging because it means they’ll only get better,” the Newgate studmaster said. “Shamus Award’s progeny have only got better and the same can be said for Russian Revolution.”

It’s worth revisiting how Russian Revolution evolved during his racing days.

As a 2-year-old, he won his only two starts late in the season before heading into a win in the G3 Roman Consul S. as a 3-year-old. In that race, he defeated Astern and Capitalist, so there were no flies on this colt early in his career.

Russian Revolution was then fourth in the G1 Coolmore Stud S. to Flying Artie, and he followed that up with a win in the G1 The Galaxy at Rosehill, defeating Redzel (Snitzel). As a 4-year-old he won the G2 McEwen S. before a career-defining, last-start victory in the G1 Oakleigh Plate.

“He was an outstanding colt of his generation,” Field said. “As was Wild Ruler. We have a lot of faith in these best sons of Snitzel retiring from the track, and Russian Revolution has justified that by taking out the First Season Sires’ premiership for us.”

A double for Newgate

For Newgate, it’s the second year in a row that one of its stallions has won the First Season Sire title. Last year, Extreme Choice led home Capitalist and Flying Artie for a vintage trifecta.

“You’ve got to start with a bloody good horse to win these things,” Field said. “Then you’ve got to manage that horse as best as you can, and we’ve been very lucky to have had horses of the calibre of these four stallions. They’re Oakleigh Plate winners, Blue Diamond winners, Golden Slipper winners and Coolmore Stud S. winners

“They’re serious horses that we’ve worked very hard to acquire, and we’ve supported them really well with good mares. We’ve raised the progeny to the best of our ability, and each has a very strong shareholder group.”

It’s a logical formula, and Newgate is one of the best in the business at launching Australian speed sires, but even Field admits that Champion Sire titles are hard fought.

“At the end of the day, with everything you do, if you’re not starting with the right product, there’s no point,” he said. “These four stallions were the best colts of their generation, and I think the best colts of a generation go on to be the best sires. That’s what you hope will happen and that’s what is happening.”

On the eve of Russian Revolution’s Champion title, Field is visibly excited about the horse’s prospects. Newgate is sending a lot of its own mares to the stallion this spring, with his fee understandably spiking from $44,000 (inc GST) to $71,500 (inc GST) this spring.

There’s also a lot of anticipation from Field about Newgate’s four new sires in Profiteer, Tiger Of Malay, Stay Inside and Wild Ruler. Could he be getting comfortable with his grip on the First-Season Sire table?

“We’re putting all of our weight behind our new sires this year, and with Stay Inside the best 2-year-old and Profiteer arguably the fastest, we’ll be upset if we don’t manage to win another First Season Sire title,” he said.

Gallery: Newgate Farm's new stallions to stud in 2022

Field says this with a degree of comedy, it’s hard not to take him seriously. In 2018, Russian Revolution was the only committed new sire on the Newgate roster (excluding Menari, who had fertility issues) and the horse is now a Champion stallion.