Snitzel, Australia's four-time champion stallion, sire of 23 group 1 winners and 160 stakes winners to date, was euthanized June 11 aged 22, owing to age-related issues, chiefly a deterioration in the liver.
The father of 12 official champions across various classes, winner of the Australian general sires' title from 2017-20, and sire of such performers as Trapeze Artist, Lady Shenandoah, Redzel, and Shinzo, has been buried at Arrowfield alongside fellow greats in his own father Redoute's Choice, Flying Spur, and Not A Single Doubt.
Arrowfield Stud is now on the lookout for a son of Snitzel to stand at the farm as it mourns the loss of a stallion Arrowfield owner John Messara described as "a dream horse in every respect."
"He's a very big loss for us, and in fact for the industry as a whole," Messara said. "He's going to be a difficult horse to replace.
"It's a very sad day for all of us. He was so healthy and sound for so many years. It was only the last few months when he got this liver complaint, and that got worse and worse over the last few weeks, and in the last few days, you could see there was going to be no coming back from it."
Snitzel, who'd already been enshrined by a statue at Arrowfield, departs with 146 stakes winners in Australia, at 10.4% of runners. With Marhoona having become his third Golden Slipper (G1) victor this year, he has a lock on what will become his fifth 2-year-old sires' title, and his second in three years.
Messara, who brought Danehill to Australia and stood Redoute's Choice throughout his career, said Snitzel had "wonderfully" carried on the best traits of those two immediate ancestors.
"He was such a versatile animal with such a tremendous temperament, which I think he passed on to most of his produce," he said. "The Redoute's and Danehill line have tremendous temperaments, and Snitzel was very much an exponent of that. To have stood all three sires, it makes you very proud.
"Snitzel was very fertile, had a great temperament, and was a great friend to himself, but I think the biggest thing he'll be remembered for is his versatility. His produce could sprint, run a mile, some could some stay; they could handle the wet and the dry, they were 2-year-olds and they trained on, they were fillies and colts, and he just threw a lot of high-class horses, and 12 champions.
"He was just a prolific getter of exceptional horses. We worked out he had a stakes win every 19 days of his career. That's not bad."
Such has been the ongoing respect for Snitzel, his average yearling price this year hit a career peak of AU$665,000—smashing his previous best of AU$536,000 in 2022.
Aside from his progeny's appeal and their performance, Snitzel also shone for his demeanor.
"He was very much loved around the farm—the kindest animal you'd have anything to do with," Messara said.
"In the breeding shed, he was always eager, very fertile, and a total gentleman. He was the total package—just a dream horse in every respect."
Snitzel bows out with 1,281 winners from 1,631 runners, at an exceptional rate of 78.54%, and his legacy will be felt for generations to come. He currently ranks at a career-high third on the Australian broodmare sires' table.
He has a prolific 29 sons standing at stud in Australia, with Russian Revolution, Trapeze Artist, and Shamus Award his most successful. His Slipper-winning son Shinzo is about to commence his second season standing at Coolmore, who will also launch another son this spring in the Coolmore Stud Stakes (G1) winner Switzerland.
Somewhat surprisingly, none of his sons are among Arrowfield's own stallion band, which now numbers six, but Messara indicated that would likely change.
Bred by Francois Naude, Snitzel—the second foal of dual-listed winner Snippets' Lass—was offered by Yarraman Park at Magic Millions Gold Coast in 2004, and bought by trainer Gerald Ryan for subsequently disgraced owner Damion Flower. Snitzel was brilliant from day one, winning his first three starts—including by three lengths on debut in the Breeders' Plate at Warwick Farm, and by six lengths at start three at Doomben in what became the BJ McLachlan Stakes.
Snitzel's three-start spring 3-year-old campaign was highlighted by victory in Randwick's 2005 Up and Coming Stakes (G3). His stud CV was sealed the following autumn when he led throughout to win the Oakleigh Plate (G1), which preceded a second to Takeover Target in the Newmarket Handicap (G1).
Signing off with black-type winner number 160 June 7 when Transatlantic took Eagle Farm's Spear Chief Handicap, Snitzel has a chance for more group 1 glory this weekend, with the same gelding a second emergency in the Stradbroke Handicap (G1).
