News

Switzerland strikes gold in G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes

2nd Nov 2024

An “arrogant’’, “dominant’’ and “awesome’’ victory solidified Easter Sale superstar Switzerland’s future at stud when he produced a devastating performance to win the stallion making G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington today.

In what trainer Chris Waller this week described as “the number one race’’ in the country from a stallion making perspective, Switzerland (Snitzel) annihilated his rivals, assuring himself a place on the Coolmore stallion roster in years to come.

Switzerland will follow a well worn path of Inglis Easter colts that develop into hugely popular young stallions such as Trapeze Artist, The Autumn Sun, Home Affairs, Exceedance, Wild Ruler, In The Congo etc in recent years.

At just his seventh career start, Switzerland secured win number five today and the most important of them all, making him arguably the most valuable colt in Australian racing.

Tom Magnier and his Coolmore team purchased Switzerland for $1.5m at last year’s Easter Yearling Sale, where he was offered in the draft of Arrowfield Stud, who bred the colt alongside Matthew Cloros’ Cloros Bloodstock.

He is now a winner of $1.8m in prizemoney but is worth many tens of millions of dollars more as a stallion prospect.

Switzerland becomes the 101^st individual G1-winning Inglis graduate since 2018 and the third Inglis graduate in the past five years to win the Coolmore Stud Stakes alongside Home Affairs (2021) and September Run (2020).

Magnier has fond memories of the day he bought Switzerland at Riverside 19 months ago.

“We looked at him a lot at Easter, the whole team had him on the list straight away,’’ Magnier said.

“To win this race is what you have to do in our industry and I’m just delighted for all the people involved in the horse because they’re great supporters of our industry.

“It was an amazing win, really. Chris [Waller] has had a high opinion of this horse – as [jockey] James [McDonald] has – for a long time so the belief was high and what Chris and James believed came out for us today.

“It’s a big credit to Arrowfield to breed horses like this, they’re very good at it and we’re delighted with how it’s all played out.’’

Arrowfield’s John Messara was equally thrilled with the result.

“He was always a really nice colt, I mean he sold for very good money and there was some very contested bidding for him I remember, they all wanted him at Inglis Easter,’’ Messara said.

“The Coolmore boys bought him and syndicated him with some of their partners and they’ve always held the horse in high regard.

“It’s also a fabulous result for Snitzel, he’s somewhat of a freak stallion, he’s 22 years of age but he’s virile, he’s fertile, nothing seems to stop him, he’s just amazing.

“The past 2-3 weeks of the carnival have been amazing for our stallions and for our graduate performances, it’s been outstanding.

“It’s getting close to sales time again now and don’t you worry, our Easter draft for next year is exceptional, full of quality again.’’

The 2025 Arrowfield Easter draft will include a full brother to Switzerland and he’s been described as “special’’ by the Inglis bloodstock team.

Winning trainer Chris Waller added: “He’s a very well bred colt who’s raced by some great racing enthusiasts so it’s important to win these races.

“This colt winning today really is a big deal on the big stage.

“It was just an awesome win, dominant, arrogant.’’