Rich Hill Stud has won the race to sign reigning New Zealand Horse of the Year Jimmy Choux.

“We weren’t originally planning to have a new stallion,” Rich Hill’s John Thompson said.  “But the decision by Sir Percy’s English owners to rest him from shuttle duty this year coincided with the retirement of Jimmy Choux.”

Jimmy Choux was trained throughout his career at Hastings by John Bary and posted 12 wins from 26 starts for earnings over $NZ3.62 million.

As a two year-old for owner-breeders Richard and Liz Wood, he won the G2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes and was G1 placed in both the Diamond Stakes and Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes.  His career went to another level at three when he completed the G1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas – Derby double and carried on his stellar form in Sydney in the autumn with victory in the G1 Rosehill Guineas.

Jimmy Choux returned as a four-year-old to claim the G1 Windsor Park Plate and G1 Spring Classic and then crossed the Tasman again beat all bar Pinker Pinker in the G1 Cox Plate prior to finishing fourth under 58kg in the G1 Emirates.

Jimmy Choux is a son of the Grosvenor Award winner Thorn Park out of the Centaine mare Cierzo.  “He’s by a champion sire out of a mare by a champion broodmare sire and he has four lines of Star Kingdom in his first six generations, which is now a rarity in Australasian breeding,” Thompson said.  “He was an outstanding racehorse with a great physique so he’s got absolutely everything in his favour to make a successful stallion.”

Jimmy Choux will stand his first season at $NZ10,000, alongside Pentire at $30,000, Shocking $12,000 and Any Suggestion $7,500.