Arrowfield Stud's bright young stallion The Autumn Sun will miss the 2024 breeding season as he continues to recover from a pelvic injury he sustained in his paddock in March.
"The Autumn Sun will miss the 2024 breeding season after sustaining a pelvic injury in his paddock in late March," a statement from Arrowfield read. "He has been under close veterinary care and restricted to box rest at Arrowfield since that time. A scan earlier this week revealed his injury is healing but not to the extent necessary for him to be able to serve this coming season.
"The Autumn Sun is otherwise in good health and coping well with his recuperation. We are confident he will make a full recovery and resume stud duties in the 2025 season."
The news will be a blow to breeders, especially off the back of the stallion's wonderful second season with runners, where he has sired 46 winners from 103 starters, which sees him sit atop of Australia's leading second-season sires by that metric.
His progeny in the past 12 months have been led by classic-winning trio Autumn Angel, Coco Sun, and Vibrant Sun, who led home a rare trifecta for the stallion in the South Australasian Oaks (G1) in April.
The son of Redoute's Choice was due to stand his sixth season at Arrowfield for an unchanged fee of AU$66,000 (US$43,445).