The 2024 Canadian 3YO Colt of the Year and North America Cup champion Nijinsky 3, 1:47.6 ($1,486,907) has joined the stallion strength at Yirribee Pacing Stud, Wagga for the coming season.
“We are extremely excited to be standing Nijinsky at Yirribee. He has outstanding credentials as a commercial stallion and will certainly meet the demand for breeders in Australia,” studmaster Dennis Picker said.
“He did the job on the track and I’m confident he will do it in the breeding shed.”
The brilliant, young stallion is without question one of the best bred and best performed horses to come to NSW.
Nijinsky was the highest stake earning pacer in North America in his sophomore campaign in 2024 with $1,212,710 and was the overwhelming choice as 3YO of the Year in Canada.
He put an exclamation mark on his career winning the $1 million North America Cup in 1:48.2, defeating top colts such as Captain Albano ($2.4m) and Legendary Hanover ($1m.) after coming from near last and never seeing the inside rail.
Nijinsky other major successes at three were the $300,000 OSS Gold Super Final, three divisions of the OSS Gold, divisions of the Simcoe Stakes in 1:48.8 and Somebeachsomewhere Stakes in 1:49, an elimination of the Meadowlands Pace in a lifetime mark of 1:47.2 (2nd in Final) and the Monument Circle Stakes in 1:48.8.
He finished second in the $600,000 final of the Breeders Crown at The Meadowlands and second in the Progress Pace at Dover Downs.
During his four-year-old season, Nijinsky annexed two Graduate Series legs and was placed in an elimination of the Breeders Crown, Mohawk Gold Cup and the Graduate final.
In all, Nijinsky put up seven winning sub 1:49 miles.
Champion horsewoman Casie Coleman, who developed and part-owned Nijinsky, said: “Nijinsky is a great looking colt with perfect conformation and great manners. You could race him any way you wanted to and he had unreal speed.
“He gave it everything he had every time he raced with a huge heart and great lungs.”
Nijinsky is a son of the great Bettor’s Delight, the premier Australian sire on a record 13 occasions and now a leading sire of sires.
Pirouette Hanover 1:50.6 ($608,759), the multiple Stakes-winning dam of Nijinsjky, has stamped herself as one of the finest broodmares of all-time. Besides Nijinsky, she is also the dam of the top racemare Alexa Skye (1:49.6), a winner of 36 races and $705,579, Macadoodledoo 1:49.8 ($476,736) and the Ohio stakes placed Downbythewater 1:49 ($226,471).
The grand-dam Paula’s Best (1:51.4) left 13 foals for 12 winners with 12 in 2:00, 10 in 1:55 and two in 1:50.
Nijinsky is slated to stand alongside Cattlewash, the sire of last year’s unbeaten USA Horse of the Year and 2YO of the Year Beau Jangles, and the world champion Warrawee Needy, who left the recent Queensland South East Derby winner Maxo Mighty.
Nijinsky’s service fee is $5,500 including GST plus the HRA Levy.
