Snitzel has solidified his distinguished place in Australian breeding history, once again securing the Australian Champion Stallion title for the 2025/26 season. This remarkable achievement marks him as only the second sire ever to reclaim this honour after a period of holding it for at least four consecutive seasons.
The celebrated Arrowfield Stud sire previously dominated the General Sires’ Premiership from 2016/17 through to 2019/20. He then relinquished the crown to Written Tycoon, followed by I Am Invincible’s three-year reign, and last season saw Zoustar achieve top honours.
Historically, only one other stallion has managed to regain the title following such an extended period of dominance: the legendary Star Kingdom. Star Kingdom achieved four straight premierships from 1959 to 1962 before regaining the title in 1965.
Snitzel has now joined this elite echelon of sires.
His offspring accumulated an impressive $26,029,187 in prizemoney during the 2025/26 racing season. This total placed him more than $4 million ahead of Zoustar, securing his fifth Champion Stallion title.
This latest triumph arrives a decade after his inaugural premiership. This longevity in success is surpassed only by his grandsire, Danehill, who claimed nine titles over 11 seasons, and Better Boy, whose four premierships were spread across 12 seasons.
“He was a marvellous stallion for the farm,” stated Arrowfield principal John Messara. “Following on from Redoute’s Choice he was a worthy contender and also from the same sire line. It’s been great that we’ve had Danehill, then Redoute’s, then this bloke off that one sire line.”
Messara continued, “He (Snitzel) started off in a fairly humble way, but over time he’s built his record up and now he’s very much at the top of the game. We’re just sorry that he’s gone, but he did a wonderful job while he was here and we’re very grateful to him.”
Snitzel, who passed away in June of the previous year shortly before his 22nd birthday, had 291 runners during the season. These horses achieved 146 individual wins, totaling 226 victories across the board.
His impact was profoundly felt at the highest echelons of racing, siring a personal best of six individual Group 1 winners. Baraqiel triumphed in the Moir Stakes, Transatlantic claimed the Toorak Handicap, Lazzura secured the Coolmore Classic, and the Golden Slipper victor Marhoona added The Galaxy to her impressive record.
Campione D’Italia and Fireball rounded out the Group 1 success, winning the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes and the Champagne Stakes respectively.
These two victories in juvenile races also propelled Snitzel to a narrow win over Home Affairs in the closely contested Champion Two-Year-Old Stallion category. His two-year-olds amassed $4,988,245 for the season, finishing just under $20,000 ahead of Home Affairs, whose initial crop included the Golden Slipper winner Guest House.
This marks the first occasion since 2020 that the Champion Two-Year-Old Stallion title has been awarded to a sire other than the sire of the Golden Slipper winner, a feat Snitzel himself accomplished five years prior.
Snitzel concluded the season with 32 stakes wins, his highest tally since achieving 45 wins in his career-defining 2016/17 campaign. The number of individual stakes winners sired by him also rose to 175.
While his influence is expected to gradually decrease as his final progeny enter racing, Messara maintains a positive outlook regarding the champion stallion’s continued impact. “We’ve got some nice yearlings for next season, he had some nice yearlings last season that’ll come out as two-year-olds very shortly, so hopefully he’s got another couple of seasons,” Messara stated. “The game is not over.”
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