The Empty Throne
Image Credit: Arrowfield Stud, https://arrowfield.com.au/stallions/snitzel/
Ever since Snitzel was retired to stud in 2006, he has stood at the pinnacle of the Australian thoroughbred breeding world. He has become the greatest sire of the modern era, producing 25 Group 1 winners and 168 stakes winners.
Snitzel comes from a rich stallion-making pedigree which descends from the Danzig bloodline. Snitzel himself has sired 27 colts that have gone on to become sires themselves, including the likes of Switzerland, Russian Revolution and Trapeze Artist. Snitzel has been crowned Champion Sire of Australia four times and five time Champion Sire of two-year-olds, earning him the title ‘sire of sires’ and ‘king of the kids’.
In 2025, Snitzel passed away at Arrowfield Stud, leaving a massive hole in Australia’s list of sires. So who is the next great Champion Sire of Australia?
The Old Rival - I Am Invincible
Snitzel’s reign of dominance only came under threat by one horse, I Am Invincible. After four consecutive seasons being the runner-up in the Sires’ Premiership to Snitzel and Written Tycoon, I Am Invincible finally broke through and claimed his first Sires’ Premiership title in the 2021/22 season. He then went on to win two more Sires’ Premiership titles in the next seasons, becoming just the third sire since 2000 to win the Sires Premiership three consecutive years (the others being Snitzel and Danehill).
The key attribute that has made I Am Invincible one of Australia’s great sires, is his speed. All of I Am Invincible’s progeny possess elite speed and the reason behind why many of his progeny have gone on to win Group 1 races over sprinting distances.
He sired Champion Sprinter and 10 time Group 1 winner Imperatriz, his list of Group 1 winner progeny includes Home Affairs, Loving Gaby, In Secret, Brazen Beau and many more. Even at the age of 21, I Am Invincible’s reputation is undiminished. Recently his son, Caballus, won the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap. Currently in the 2025/26 season, I Am Invincible has produced the second most stakes winners.
One thing I Am Invincible has been notably more successful at than any other sire in the modern era is his ability to produce quality broodmares. In 2024, at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, his daughter Imperatriz sold for $6.6 million, smashing the Southern Hemisphere record for the sale of a filly or mare.
While I Am Invincible is a great sire, he has always been in Snitzel’s shadow. Now with Snitzel’s passing, I Am Invincible still has many years ahead of him to break out of Snitzel’s shadow and emerge as one of Australia’s greatest sires. However, there are a new wave of sires flooding into the breeding barn and there are two in particular who could stop I Am Invincible’s claim to the throne.
The Heir Apparent - The Autumn Sun
The Champion Sire of Australia in each era has been dominated by a stallion that descends from Danzig. Before Snitzel there was the great Redoute’s Choice (sire of Snitzel) and before Redoute’s Choice was his sire, Danehill (USA) . Like Snitzel, The Autumn Sun is a son of Redoute’s Choice, out of a Galileo (IRE) mare, Azmiyna (IRE). This cross of Redoute’s Choice over Galileo represents a 'best of both worlds' scenario, blending local speed and precocity with elite European stamina. He boasts the same lucrative bloodline as Snitzel, and like Snitzel and Redoute’s Choice did, he resides at the prestigious Arrowfield Farm.
In his short career as a stallion, with his first crop of yearlings racing in 2022, The Autumn Sun has already produced five Group 1 winners and 10 stakes winners. He is the sire of Autumn Glow, a horse that has been touted as the next Winx. She already has three Group 1’s to her name and won the third richest race in the world, the Golden Eagle, in 2025. Other notable progeny he has produced are Autumn Boy, Autumn Angel, Coco Sun and Vibrant Sun.
James McDonald riding Autumn Glow win Race 7 The Agency George Ryder Stakes during Sydney Racing at Rosehill Gardens on March 21, 2026 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)
It is still too early to tell if The Autumn Sun will be the one to ‘inherit’ the throne from Snitzel, but so far he has already produced a champion of the racetrack and I believe we are still yet to see the best from him.
The Rising Star - Zoustar
Over the past two seasons, Zoustar has sired the most stakes winners (27) and Group 1 winners (6) of any sire in Australasia. Across his stallion career, Zoustar has sired a total of 11 individual Group 1 winners and 72 individual stakes winners.
In the 2023/24 season, Zoustar broke the Australian sires record for producing the most winners (208) and wins (364) for a sire in a single season. Whereas Snitzel could only manage to record 120 individual winners and 344 wins in the 2015/16 season. Zoustar followed up that record breaking season by topping the Australian Sires’ Premiership table and earned his first Champion Sire of Australia title in the 2024/25 season, knocking off I Am Invincible. He became just the fourth sire since the 2016/17 season to win the title of Champion Sire of Australia (Snitzel: 2016/17-2019/20, Written Tycoon: 2020/21 and I Am Invincible: 2021/22-2023/24), joining an elite group of well established sires.
Some of Zoustar’s famous progeny include four time Group 1 winner Joliestar, triple Group 1 winner and Champion 3yoF in Australia in 2018/19 Sunlight and four time Group 1 winner Zougotcha. His list of sire sons includes Growing Empire, Ozzmosis, Lean Mean Machine and Zousain.
Where The Autumn Sun is an up-and-coming sire, Zoustar is proven to produce quality progeny and has already established himself as the newest Champion Sire of Australia. Is the era of Zoustar just beginning?
Image Credit: Widden Stud, https://widden.com/stallions/zoustar/
‘The Hot Choice’ - Extreme Choice
Extreme Choice has rapidly ascended from a brilliant racehorse to one of the most statistically extraordinary stallions in Australian breeding history. Despite his fertility challenges that has resulted in small foal crops, his impact on the track is nothing short of elite.
He is best known for siring the 2021 Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside and the Group 1 VRC Oaks winner She’s Extreme, proving his ability to produce top-tier talent across both sprinting and classic distances.he consistently maintains a staggering winners-to-runners strike rate and a stakes-winners-to-runners ratio that rivals, and often exceeds, legends like Snitzel and I Am Invincible. Currently, one in every 25 Extreme Choice yearling goes onto become a Group 1 winner.
Because his progeny are so rare due to his limited fertility, the "scarcity factor" has driven his commercial value into the stratosphere. Buyers view an Extreme Choice yearling as a blue-chip investment, leading to remarkable results at major sales. Recently, at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, Extreme Choice’s yearlings averaged a whopping $1.5 million. He also topped the sale with a $3 million colt out of Pretty Brazen.
Extreme Choice is the ultimate "quality over quantity" stallion. He has transformed from a Group 1-winning speedster into a legitimate elite sire with his sons now being highly sought after for their own prospective stud careers.
image Credit: Newgate Farm, https://www.newgate.com.au/horse/extreme-choice/
The post-Snitzel era will likely not be defined by a single tyrant, but by this elite quartet. Zoustar currently holds the crown of "Champion Sire," but with The Autumn Sun’s progeny beginning to dominate the classic distances, I Am Invincible’s longevity to sustain and produce elite speedsters and Extreme Choice rewriting the record books for efficiency, the Australian breeding industry has never been more competitive.
