Savabeel fee unchanged, Super Seth earns increase

Savabeel remains the headline act at Waikato Stud, but one of his barnmates has been rewarded for continued good results with a fee increase for 2024.

Super Seth will stand for NZ$45,000 plus GST, which is an increase of $10,000 on last year.

The son of Dundeel is responsible for Kiwi Stakes performers Super Photon and Poetic Champion, along with Group 1 Champagne Stakes runner-up Linebacker, in his first crop and Waikato's Mark Chittick is thrilled with the start the Caulfield Guineas winner has made to his stud career.

"He was an expensive stallion purchase but he was exactly the type of horse we wanted and at this early stage his progeny are proving that they are following in his footsteps," Chittick said.

"They are good horses. That's exactly what we are trying to achieve with a horse like Super Seth at Waikato Stud.

"There has been lots of speculation as to what his service fee would go to and we know we potentially could have significantly increased it, but we're playing the long game in our ownership of stallions.

"For us it's not just about the first the first season on the racetrack, it's about the next 15 or 20 years for Waikato Stud, the Super Seth Syndicate and breeders."

He is the second most expensive on the Waikato roster, behind Savabeel, who remains unchanged at $100,000, while Ardrossan also received a $10,000 hike, which doubled his fee to $20,000.

Ocean Park is also $20,000, back from $30,000 last year, while Noverre is unchanged at $10,000, Tivaci is $12,500 back to $8000 and Banquo unchanged at $3000.

Savabeel will this season reclaim the Champion NZ Sire award from Proisir, which will be his ninth title success, and Chittick expects demand to be as strong as ever.

"Who knows when his incredible run will end, but at this stage he continues to have a high fertility rate, is in great health and doesn't look a lot different to when he was 12 – it's hard to believe that was ten years ago," he said.

"He continues to be fit and healthy. It's business as usual for Savabeel."