It’s a little unusual for Arrowfield to offer 5 Inglis Easter yearlings by a stallion standing at another farm, but we have a special connection with the Yulong-based Written Tycoon whose daughter Lady Of Camelot is the 9th Arrowfield-conceived Golden Slipper winner in 21 years.
The inspired decision to transfer the son of Iglesia to Arrowfield for the 2020 breeding season was a win-win for all parties during the turbulent first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Written Tycoon’s owners welcomed the opportunity to attract a large number of Hunter Valley-based mares. Arrowfield, unable to shuttle Maurice that year, was delighted to fill the gap with a proven sire whose genetics suited many of its best broodmares. And breeders quickly filled his book with quality mares that he had not previously seen.
Written Tycoon played his part perfectly, siring 153 foals at a discounted fee of $77,000 and winning the 2020/21 Australian General Sires’ Premiership with $17 million prizemoney and 12 stakeswinners headed by Group 1 winners Ole Kirk, Odeum & Pippie.
The crop conceived at Arrowfield is spreading generous dollops of icing on the cake. The 118 Written Tycoon yearlings sold last year (26 of them offered under Arrowfield’s banner) averaged $298,000 with a top price of $1.4 million paid for the colt out of Meryl, now named Media World.
As 2YOs they have already made a big impact, propelling Written Tycoon to the top of both the Australian and New Zealand 2YO Sires’ tables with total earnings of almost $5 million. His best performers apart from Golden Slipper winner & Blue Diamond runner up Lady Of Camelot, from just 26 2YO runners this season, include Velocious (Ellerslie Sires’ Produce S. G1 & Karaka 2YO Million RL), Captured By Love (3-time Group winner and Group 1-placed in New Zealand), Kuroyanagi (3rd, Blue Diamond S. G1), Satin Slipper (3rd, Calaway Gal S. G1), Sovereign Hill (debut winner in Sydney), Foreverintime (debut winner at Ellerslie) and the Arrowfield-bred Little Stirrer (winner in Melbourne at her second start).
It’s no co-incidence that Lady Of Camelot (dam by Fastnet Rock), Foreverintime (dam by Not A Single Doubt) and Velocious, Captured By Love & Little Stirrer (dams by Snitzel) are out of mares by Danehill-line sires. That combination of Written Tycoon with Danehill sons & grandsons has produced 28 stakeswinners among 44 stakes performers (11% of runners bred this way).
Nor is it co-incidental that four of Arrowfield’s 5 Easter yearlings by Written Tycoon have Redoute’s Choice, Foxwedge, Flying Spur & Beneteau as damsires! They are an impressive group on both type and pedigree: two colts and a filly out of Group winners Miravalle, Noire & Almighty Girl and a filly from a full sister to Champion 3YO Mentality.
The superbly bred, powerfully built colt out of Hussonet’s daughter The Broken Shore completes an appealing quintet: he shares his dam, a half-sister to Redoute’s Choice, with Champion 3YO Filly Shoals and G1-placed stakeswinner Groundswell.
– Arrowfield Stud
