Gainesway, Juddmonte decrease fees

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Two more prominent Lexington stallion operations have issued new, lower fees for their sires in 2009, following a trend to cut back stallion fees in light of the plummeting bloodstock market.

Gainesway Farm announced Monday it will slash fashionable sire Mr. Greeley's fee from his previously advertised $100,000 to $75,000.

Juddmonte Farms also said Monday that it would make the same 25 percent cut to Empire Maker's fee from $100,000 to $75,000. The Lexington nursery also will trim Mizzen Mast from $25,000 to $17,500 and First Defence from $20,000 to $17,500. Aptitude will stay the same as first announced at $10,000.

The announcements came the same day that the 3-year-old Mr. Greeley filly Saoirse Abu, a dual Group 1 winner, brought more than $3 million at England's Tattersalls December mare sale. But that auction session also saw steep declines in revenue this year versus last year, with gross receipts falling 53 percent, the average price down 45 percent, and median off by 52 percent. The losses underlined a recent sharp downturn in the bloodstock market, which has prompted other farms, including Taylor Made, WinStar, and Lane's End, to revise horses' 2009 stud fees downward in the last two weeks.