$50,000 increase in Tavistock service fee
Demand for sire-of-the-moment Tavistock means he will stand his next season at $65,000, a $50,000 increase on last year.
Cambridge Stud proprietor Sir Patrick Hogan said it had been difficult to set a price for the stallion whose second crop has produced two Derby winners in Australia this season – Tarzino and Tavago.
Volkstok’n’barrell won the 2015 Rosehill Guineas and has continued to represent Tavistock’s first season with two Group One wins as a four-year-old.
Werther, also from Tavistock’s first crop, was runner-up in last season’s South Australian and Queensland Derbys and has struck top form in Hong Kong with Group One wins in the Derby and last weekend’s QEII Cup.
“It’s been a very difficult exercise in arriving at a fee that reflects the tremendous success of his first two crops as well as being fair to broodmare owners,” Sir Patrick said.
“Mind you, that’s second only to the other side of the equation, sorting through the hundreds of service applications and deciding who’s in and who’s not.
“We had more than 280 applications before last weekend and when Werther won again we had another bunch come in.
“It really is a dilemma and I find myself in an impossible position trying to satisfy everyone. Those whose applications are successful will no doubt be pleased, but there will be a whole lot of other broodmare owners who will miss out.”