SEA The Stars and Siyouni have both had their covering fees raised to €200,000 for next year. Both stallions stand under the Aga Khan Studs banner, at Gilltown Stud in Co Kildare and Haras de Bonneval in France, respectively.

This year Sea The Stars stood at €180,000 and Siyouni's fee was €150,000.

Siyouni was second only to Frankel in the European sires' list this year, in terms of prize money. He sired the winners of both the Irish 1000 Guineas and 2000 Guineas courtesy of Tahiyra and Paddington. That pair went on to win an additional five Group 1 races this year.

Meanwhile in France, Siyouni's four-year-old daughter Mqse De Sevigne won two Group 1 races during the summer in Deauville. In Australia, Amelia’s Jewel continued to blitz an extraordinary trail of group race success. Siyouni also continues to be one of the most in-demand sires in the sales ring, with yearlings in 2023 fetching up to €2.2 million.

Sea The Stars was represented by four Group 1 winners in 2023, among them Hukum, among the highest rated horses this year. With over 110 stakes winners and 21 Group 1 winners to his name, and 12% lifetime stakes winners to runners, Sea The Stars is a reliable source of star performers. He is also broodmare sire of five Group 1 winners including recent Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Unquestionable.

Zarak, who stands alongside Siyouni, remains at €60,000. The son of Dubawi and Zarkava stood at €12,000 originally but has supplied a high level of stakes winners since his first crop hit the track in 2021. His first two crops have so far produced six Group 1 horses, including 2023 Group 1 winner Zagrey, and his third crop – two-year-olds of 2023 – already includes Group 3 winner Shagara, group-placed Zaphod and Saganti. His yearlings of 2024 will be his first crop conceived at an increased fee following his significant early success.

Vadeni joins the roster at Haras de Bonneval as a Cartier Champion Three-Year-Old of 2022, the record-breaking winner of the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club and the first French horse in 60 years to win the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes. He was also a stakes-winning and group-placed two-year-old, and showed great constitution and temperament throughout his career that enabled him to perform with distinction at the highest level in France, Ireland and Britain.

Erevann is another new recruit, and boasts an attractive profile as a son of sire of sires Dubawi and Siyouni’s multiple Group 1-winning daughter Ervedya. The winner of four races in five starts over a mile at two and three, including the Group 2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein over Arc weekend, Erevann was also just a neck from victory in the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois, and comes to stud with a similar profile to his new stablemate Zarak.

Georges Rimaud, manager of the Aga Khan Studs in France, commented: “With two internationally proven leading sires, one rapidly rising star and two exciting new stallions to offer breeders in 2024, we go into next year with as strong a roster as we have ever had. We look forward to showing them to breeders over the next few weeks, and invite people to get in touch with myself or Fanny Cyprès in France, or Pat Downes or Julie White in Ireland, to discuss their mating plans.”

AGA KHAN STUDS STALLION FEES FOR 2024

Gilltown Stud

Stallion Fee (2023)

Sea The Stars €200,000 (€180,000)

Haras de Bonneval

Siyouni €200,000 (€150,000)

Zarak €60,000 (€60,000)

Vadeni €18,000 (NEW)

Erevann €8,000 (NEW)