THE scurry is on to find the next tier of the I Am Invincible dynasty, with stud owners welcoming his better performing sons to their stallion boxes.
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I Am Invincible created a new Australian record of siring 28 stakes winners this season with only six crops of racing age. The stallion is represented with at least six commercial stud sons in Australia, his oldest Brazen Beau is represented with juveniles, while last year's Group 2 winner, Santos, is his newest.
I Am Invincible is an example that a horse does not have to be a champion racehorse to become a champion sire, and while his first leading Australian sire by earnings still awaits, he leads the lists for winners, wins, and juvenile winners this season.
He was a good racehorse and was Group 1 placed (second to Takeover Target in Adelaide's Goodwood Handicap), but not a champion. But he had looks and was labelled as one of the best-looking stallions in the Upper Hunter Valley at his first stud season in 2010.
These looks and his $11,000 service fee drew a crowd of 133 mares at his first season, the smallest number of mares covered since. At the time Yarraman Park took the gamble with a less fashionably bred I Am Invincible, and now his home property are putting their faith into his Group 1 winning son Hellbent to carry on the sireline.
In 2010, there were about 43 commercial sons by the iconic Danehill, and 18 sons of Danehill's champion son Redoute's Choice standing. But at the same time stud masters were hunting for a Danehill outcross with several jumping onto the Red Ransom rush, with 10 commercial stud sons listed.
While all those Red Ransom stud sons were proved and some still highly successful, none of them have commercial sons at stud today, while I Am Invincible now commands Australia's highest stud fee of $247,500.
Interestingly, I Am Invincible and Danehill share Northern Dancer's most dominant sireline of recent times, Danzig, in their pedigrees. While Danzig is the sire of Danehill, Danzig is the great grand sire of I Am Invincible.
His sire, Irish bred horse Invincible Spirit (by Green Desert), is now being tapped into by stud operators with four commercial stud sons, his newest the GB bred National Defense, a French performed Group 1 winner who is shuttling to Victoria.
