BC success bumps Medaglia d'Oro's fee to $250k

Fresh on the heels of siring a pair of Breeders' Cup winners, Medaglia d'Oro's advertised stud fee will rise to $250,000 in 2018, Darley announced on Tuesday.

Darley released its stud fees in late October, and placed Medaglia d'Oro's fee at $200,000, up from his level of $150,000 in 2017 and already placing him among the elite stallions in North America. But after Talismanic won the Breeders' Cup Turf last Saturday, following an earlier victory by Bar of Gold in the Filly and Mare Sprint, his fee was boosted again for a limited number of remaining seasons, with nominations sales manager Darren Fox stating in a release that demand has already been high.

"We feel it incumbent on us to listen to what the market is telling us and adjust his fee accordingly," Fox said. “We have always set our fees at fair and competitive levels and we think that this is certainly in line with that historical approach.”

Medaglia d’Oro’s pair of winners joined Songbird (2015 Juvenile Fillies) and New Money Honey (2016 Juvenile Fillies Turf) to give the sire four career Breeders’ Cup winners. Along with Talismanic and Bar of Gold, both Songbird and New Money Honey were Grade 1 winners this season, along with top-level winners Bolt d’Oro, Dickinson, and Elate. Bolt d’Oro finished third with a wide trip in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

At this time only Gainesway Farm's Tapit, who stood for $300,000 in 2017, commands a higher fee than Medaglia d'Oro. Tapit's 2018 fee has yet to be announced.