Hooked On Scotch's Stud Popularity Soars

GROUP 1 winner Hooked On Scotch, the rising star of the Australasian stud ranks, will for now remain at his current stud fee of $3300.

Adam Dobbin22 September 2023

Hooked On Scotch, the rising star of the Australasian stud ranks, will for now remain at his current stud fee of $3300.

That is the declaration of Lakeview Sires studmaster Darren Puleio who is over the moon with the early exploits of his regally bred group 1 winner at stud.

In recent times, rumours have been abound that the exciting young sire was set for an imminent stud fee rise, given his great early success.

HOOKED ON SCOTCH AT STUD

"He's going fantastic and has been really busy of late but I'm committed to leaving him where he is ($3300) for now anyway," Puleio said.

"This quarter I've sold 51 and I've just recently sold another ten to Ireland as well.

"And the most pleasing aspect is a lot of the recent ones have been people that have already used him and been happy with the results."

Hooked On Scotch is making a big name for himself at stud

Headlining Hooked On Scotch's stud uprise is NZ sensation Postman Pat, the ruling $5 favourite for the Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase.

But the talented offspring doesn't stop there, producing the likes of Queensland sensation King Of Aces, sidelined powerhouse Rejuvenate, Warragul St. Leger hopeful Awesome Avenger, near Gardens track record breaker Need A Margarita, group 1 runner-up Locked On Scotch as well as the prodigiously talented Borneo Brave, just to name a few.

Rapidly closing in on 1000 winners at his first season at stud, progeny of Hooked On Scotch (Barcia Bale x Nicki Fields) has already amassed close to $3m in stud earnings.

"His next box to tick is getting that group 1 winner," Pulieo said.

"But with the quality of pup he's producing hopefully that's not too far away. There's been some fantastic recent reports about some of his pups which will start seeing soon as well."

They include highly touted youngsters out of Freaky Tears which trainer Michael Ivers has earmarked towards next month's Million Dollar Chase Maiden at Wentworth Park.

Back in July, one of the pups, then 16 months old, smashed the 388m Gosford track record in a trial, running a remarkable 21.68.