3 minute read
Final metro weekend of season to have a big say in leading broodmare sire award.
The 2022/23 racing season does not end until Monday, but the winners of most of Australia's sires' premierships are already known.
I Am Invincible is more than $4 million clear of So You Think in the Australian Champion Sire award, meaning the Yarraman stallion will defend the crown he won for the first time last year.
Justify has had a stunning debut season in Australia and will win the first-season sire award, while last season's top freshman sire Russian Revolution will win the leading second-season sire award.
One battle going down to the wire is for the leading broodmare sire, which is being fought out by a couple of regular combatants.
Redoute's Choice and Encosta De Lago are again locked in battle with Redoute's Choice just $87,239 ahead of his long-time adversary with five days left in the season.
This will be the sixth-straight season they run the quinella in the Champion Broodmare Sire award and each has already bettered the previous best of $29.9m in earnings in a season, set by Encosta De Lago in 2021.
That was one of four wins in the award for Encosta De Lago, who won a hat-trick of titles from 2016-18, while Redoute's Choice is chasing a fourth win, having earlier won in 2019, 2020 and last year.
Horse of the Year favourite Anamoe (Street Boss) has been the flagbearer for Redoute's Choice damsire progeny with the James Cummings-trained four-year-old having banked $6.4m this season, while Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) is Encosta De Lago's top performer with $3.45m.
Redoute's Choice has a stronger hand at this Saturday's final metropolitan meetings of the season in Sydney and Melbourne, boasting six representatives at Randwick and three at The Valley compared to Encosta De Lago's two at each.
But Encosta De Lago has more runners at Eagle Farm (six to three), Morphettville (four to three) and Belmont (three to zero), meaning the title might not be decided until Monday's final day of the season.
CHAMPION BROODMARE SIRE TABLE (as of July 26)
$32,074,890 – Redoute's Choice
$31,987,651 – Encosta De Lago
$25,173,825 – Exceed And Excel
$24,381,658 – Fastnet Rock
$22,387,252 – Flying Spur
$21,918,455 – Lonhro
$20,749,099 – More Than Ready
$17,797,668 – Street Cry
$14,347,041 – O'Reilly
$13,714,731 – Snitzel
