Hitotsu – let’s dispel the Myth
Outstanding breeder support gives Hitotsu 120 first-crop foals that will be 3YOs when his 2026 crop hits the sale-ring. (PHOTO: Joan Faras)
We all know how the chat goes, that “dreaded third season”, when breeders often choose to back off a stallion…
But let’s look at 3 stallions who have very recently debunked the Myth of the Third Season Sire.
Back in the Spring of 2022 three Group 1-winning stallions stood their third seasons at Arrowfield, Yulong & Waikato Studs, at fees between A$20,000 and NZ$35,000.
None of them covered more than 100 mares that year and when the 2025 yearling sales rolled around they had only about half the representation they’d had from their first crop – including a combined total of only 19 lots at Australia’s two major sales, Inglis Easter & Magic Millions Gold Coast.
Fast forward three years, and all 3 stallions are now among the hottest young sires in Australasia, with 2025 sales results that reflect strong demand meeting insufficient supply.
In other words: missed opportunities.
Those 3 stallions are Castelvecchio, Alabama Express and Super Seth – all of them now commanding fees significantly higher than in 2022, all of them backed by major farms, and none of them short of bookings this season.
And all 3 were bred & sold by Arrowfield – just like Hitotsu…
He lines up alongside that stellar trio in other ways too:
- Thanks to terrific breeder support in his first two seasons, Hitotsu is on track to have around 200 foals in his first two crops.
- Like Castelvecchio & Super Seth, Hitotsu won a Group 1 Guineas – the difference is that he won the Australian Guineas in a fresh state, between two outstanding victories in the Victoria Derby and the Australian Derby. Hitotsu is the only horse since the newly inducted Hall of Famer Mahogany in 1994 to win that particular, very difficult Group 1 Classic treble, and he did it in successive starts.
- Like Super Seth, as well as Australia’s newest Champion Sire Zoustar, Hitotsu is out of a Redoute’s Choice mare.
- Alabama Express, Castelvecchio & Super Seth all broke through as Group 1 sires with their first-crop 3YOs. No surprise there: all three of them were Group 1 winners at 3, just like Hitotsu.
Hitotsu will have first-crop 3YOs running in 2027/28, when his 2026 foals will sell as yearlings.
So, let’s ask this question…
If you like Hitotsu, and he suits your mare, why wouldn’t you breed to him in 2025?
