Highlighting what is going to be a big year for some key new first season sires, the Australian Pacing Gold sales will be the kick off point for the first crop of some highly anticipated new sires.
Perhaps the stallion with the biggest profile, particularly among the colonial bred brigade, will be King Of Swing, the 11 time Group 1 winner and three time Australian Horse of the Year, NSW Horse of the Year and Grand Circuit Champion.
The Rocknroll Hanover horse numbered among his 44 successes the Miracle Mile on three occasions, the A. G. Hunter Cup twice, the Breeders Crown, WA Derby, Blacks A Fake and three heats of the Inter Dominion. He clocked 11 sub 1:50 winning miles including a lifetime best of 1:47.9 and earned $3.3 million stakes. He is is unquestionably one of the best performed and best colonial bred horses ever to enter stud duties in this country.
The first King Of Swing yearling to go through the ring in Australia was lot 42 at the APG Melbourne sale on the 2nd of February and the filly did not disappoint. Topping the sale with a price of $82,500 and going to Jennifer Turnbull, she said this foal caught her eye right from the start.
With nine yearlings catalogued for the 2025 APG Sydney Yearling Sale, the Cobbitty Equine Farm stallion’s stock must come with expectations of precocity. He has 100 live foals in his first crop, covered at a fee of $8,800 (incl. GST).
The lineup comprises colts from Burn Back (Lot 204), Cullen Reign (Lot 205), Miss Iconic (Lot 229), the 1:49 producer Motu Living Doll (Lot 231), Northern Courage (Lot 234), Our Little Artist (Lot 241) and Rise To The Top (Lot 247) and fillies out of the APG Consolation winner For All We Know (Lot 208) and Match Point Serena (Lot 226).
King Of Swing also has two entries in the APG Perth Yearling Sale, one a colt from Orphan Reactor (Lot 463) and the other a filly out of the WA Golden Bracelet winner Generally Outspoken NZ (Lot 382).
Besides being by Rocknroll Hanover, and his richest and fastest Australasian bred son, King Of Swing belongs to a noted female line, being out of the NZ Broodmare of the Year Twist And Twirl ($283,258), an Oaks winner who became the dam of four 2:00 winners and three $100,000 earners including Bettor Twist ($605,437), a seven time Group 1 and dual Oaks winner, and the Derby winner Rocknroll Hammer.
Twist And Twirl ranks as a half-sister to the Newcastle Cup winner Feels Like Magic ($261,728) and to Bettor Give It, the dam of the millionaire pacer and dual Breeders Crown champion Mach Dan.
King Of Swing is a member of the family founded in America by Jessie Pepper, the world’s leading source of 2:00 speed and the ancestress of champion sires Tar Heel, No Nukes and Kentucky, to name only a few.
With his first progeny through the ring starting with such a high price, it looks like King Of Swings stock is only going to rise from here. And with 9 yearlings all coming through the ring this weekend at APG’s Sydney sale, now is the time to get your hands on one. Buyer registrations are still open online with APG’s Buyer Registration Page or can be done at the sales office on Sunday the 16th of February. Don’t miss your chance to grab one of these highly anticipated first crop from Kind of Swing.
