Vale Snitzel
Sad news filtered through on Wednesday that Arrowfield Stud’s champion sire, Snitzel, had passed away aged 22 after battling a liver complaint for some time.
With his passing, it got us reflecting upon what was a truly remarkable career, both on the race track and in the breeding barn. It was a career that will leave an indelible mark on Straight Six Racing and the Australian thoroughbred industry for some time to come.
"My brother and I were one of the earliest supporters of Snitzel, at a time when he was somewhat less fashionable. As a result, we were also significant beneficiaries of his success".
— Michael Ward, Founder & Director, Straight Six Racing —The winner of seven races from his fifteen career starts, highlighted by a win in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate where he defeated Takeover Target, Snitzel retired with prizemoney of $1,026,550. However, it was in the breeding barn where he really packed a punch. Snitzel commenced his stud duties off a modest service fee of $33,000. Initially a slow burn, Snitzel soon began to hit his straps with 14 black type winners emerging from his third crop and after that he was away. By the time of his passing he was regarded as one of the truly great Australian stallions, boasting a stakes winners-to-runners ratio of 10.4% which included three Golden Slipper winners, Estijaab, Shinzo and the 2025 winner Marhoona. He was the sire of 160 individual stakes winners which allowed him to command a career-high service fee of $247,500 in 2024. This level of success translated into sales ring riches for those who were astute enough to support him. The 2025 yearling sales season saw his progeny average $656,889, the highest of his entire career. He will still have another couple of crops to make their way through the sales ring and with their numbers now limited, we anticipate some further eye-watering results to come.
Straight Six Racing’s Michael Ward reminisced, “My brother and I were one of the earliest supporters of Snitzel, at a time when he was somewhat less fashionable. As a result, we were also significant beneficiaries of his success”. The pair purchased and syndicated amongst their clients twelve of his progeny over the years for a combined cost of $1,064,000, or an average of $88,667. Those twelve horses, which included Redzel, Hot Snitzel and Flying Snitzel, went on to win a combined $19,309,585 in prizemoney. This figure represented a remarkable 7.1% of Snitzel’s entire progeny’s earnings of $273 million to date. Michael said, “It is clear for all to see the impact that Snitzel has had on the thoroughbred racing and breeding industry, and I’m just so pleased that our paths crossed so early”.