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Value Sires Part 6: Proven Sires

As breeding sheds prepare to swing open their doors in the coming weeks, we bring you the final installment of our 2021 Value Sires series. Gone are the days of dissecting sales averages and speculating on the comments of the judges; these elder statesmen have proven their mettle on the racecourse, and a few of them are even available at their lowest ever fees.

While value exists in all price brackets and for all budgets, we have chosen to limit the scope of this analysis to stallions standing in Europe for £/€20,000 and below, selecting two sires apiece that stand between 15,000 and 20,000; 10,00 and 12,500 and below 10,000. As we have covered in depth the sire crops up to those which have first-crop 3-year-olds this year, stallions highlighted here will be those with at least two crops of racing age fully behind them.

Selecting the final six was far from an easy exercise. There were many worthy candidates, and in addition to the raw data likes percentages of winners and stakes winners and overall career performances, other factors taken into consideration included price point and the current trajectory of the horse's career.

15,000 to 20,000

This price bracket must be one of the most intriguing of them all: it includes not only the ever-reliable Iffraaj (GB) and Nathaniel (Ire) at a career-low fees, but also the incredibly popular Dandy Man (Ire) and the rising talent Make Believe (GB). But two stallions stand out in this price range on both percent of stakes winners to runners and winners to runners: Oasis Dream (GB) (£20,000) and Mastercraftsman (Ire) (€15,000).

One would be hard-pressed to nominate a sire in this price range that has compiled a body of work over a career that compares with Oasis Dream's. The 21-year-old former G1 July Cup winner was fast out of the gate with his first crop and soon established himself as a world-class sire, with the likes of Midday (GB), Muhaarar (GB) and Power (GB) among his 17 Group 1 winners. The dark bay stood for up to £85,000 at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud, and is this year down to a career-low £20,000. His 9.5% rate of stakes winners to runners puts Oasis Dream in a class with sires that stand for many multiples of his fee, and he likewise gets 66% winners/runners. The dip in his fee goes hand-in-hand with the reality that his numbers of stakes winners have leveled off in recent seasons, but an average of seven per season since 2016 is still nothing to scoff at, and he is still turning out Group 1 winners, with three of his 17 having come since 2016: Muarrab (GB) won the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen as a 7-year-old in 2016 while Pretty Pollyanna (GB) and Polydream (Ire) won the G1 Prix Morny and G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest, respectively, in 2018. Oasis Dream has sired 122 stakes winners and his daughters have produced 58 stakes winners and five Group 1 winners. He had a remarkable year in 2020 alone as a broodmare sire, with G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Siskin, G1 Melbourne Cup winner Twilight Payment (Ire), G1 Cox Plate scorer Sir Dragonet (Ire) and G1 Prix Saint-Alary victress Tawkeel (GB) on his honor roll in addition to standout juveniles Miss Amulet (Ire) and Chindit (Ire). A mark of his consistent brilliance is that Oasis Dream is still well-supported in the sales ring, too: his 29 yearlings sold in 2020 averaged €86,669/£76,604. It's hard to imagine a horse in Oasis Dream's price range with a better chance to get a breeder anything from a sales horse to a potential broodmare or a top-class runner.

The six years younger Mastercraftsman (Ire) is following a similar trajectory; in fact, he has an average of 9.6 stakes winners per crop, versus 8.7 for Oasis Dream. From eight crops of racing age, the grey has supplied 77 stakes winners (6.3% of starters) and he gets winners at a rate of 62.3% (of starters). Mastercraftsman has 15 Group 1 winners, just two off Oasis Dream, and he likewise gets them at the highest level: Alpha Centauri (Ire) was champion 3-year-old filly and won the Coronation S., Falmouth S., Irish 1000 Guineas and Prix Jacques le Marois; The Grey Gatsby (Ire) took the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and G1 Irish Champion S., and Amazing Maria (Ire) and A Raving Beauty (Ger) each won a pair of Grade/Group 1s apiece. Mastercraftsman's 2021 fee of €15,000 is his lowest since 2013, and his crop bred off the back of Alpha Centauri's championship season will be 3-year-olds when his 2022 crop are going to the yearling sales.

10,000 to 12,500

There are plenty of horses in this price range across Britain, Ireland and France that offer eye-catching stats-with Coolmore stalwart Footstepsinthesand (GB) and French up-and-comer Galiway (GB) certainly among them-and once again we landed at Coolmore and Juddmonte for our top two choices: Bated Breath (GB) (£12,500) and Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) (€12,500).

A Group 2-winning sprinter for Roger Charlton who was second in four Group 1s, Bated Breath marked himself out early as a prolific source of high-class winners, his first three crops including the likes of G2 Rockfel S. and G3 Albany S. winner Daahyeh (GB), G2 Railway S. winner Beckford (Ire), G2 Dahlia S. and G3 Prix Minerve S. winner Worth Waiting (GB) and G2 Boomerang S. and G3 Jersey S. scorer Space Traveller (Ire). The bay has continued to build on those results, and in 2020 notched his first Group 1 winner in the GI Matriarch S. victress Viadera (GB). Bated Breath's juveniles had another outstanding year, too, in 2020, highlighted by Makaloun (GB) winning the G3 Prix de Conde and Cairn Gorm (GB) taking the G3 Prix de Conde. His winners to runners ratio is 60.2%, and the crop bred after his first successful season with 3-year-olds are three themselves in 2021. His yearlings are providing a return for their breeders and pinhookers, too: 53 sold at auction last year realized an average of €50,018/£44,162 that was 4.4x their £10,000 covering fee.

The 17-year-old Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) has carved out a truly remarkable stud career that has seen him sire Group 1 winners all across the world and across a great variety of trips. His 13 top-level scorers range from Guineas winners Homecoming Queen (Ire) and Romanised (Ire) to G1 Australian and New Zealand Derby scorer Mongolian Khan (NZ) to G1 Oakleigh Plate victress Sheidel (Aus) and GI Santa Anita Sprint Championship winner Rich Tapestry (Ire). They can be fast and precocious-like he was as a G1 Phoenix S. and G1 Jean-Luc Lagardere S. winner-but also have plenty of scope to train on. Holy Roman Emperor sires stakes winners at a rate of 6.1% of his starters (he averages 8 stakes winners per crop), and winners at 66.2%. He is still producing the goods and is this year available for the second-lowest price he has ever commanded.

Below 10,000

At last we deviate away from the Danzig sireline as we land on Raven's Pass. The G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. and GI Breeders' Cup Classic-winning son of Elusive Quality has long had his books restricted at Kildangan Stud-his crops of racing age average 57 foals apiece–but he will certainly have his admirers; he is currently turning out stakes winners at a rate of 8.3% of his runners, and winners at 62.6%. His 2-year-olds of 2021 were bred off the back of his career-best season in 2017 when he provided 12 stakes winners, four of which were group winners including the G3 Prix Imprudence scorer and G1 Prix Rothschild second Via Ravenna (Ire). The chestnut has supplied three Group 1 winners: the G1 Sprinters S. winner Tower Of London, who was also a Group 2-winning 2-year-old on the competitive JRA circuit; G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Royal Marine (Ire) and in 2020 the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 victor Matternhorn (Ire). Raven's Pass is available for four figures for the first time in 2021: he stands at Kildangan Stud for €7,500.

Our second selection in this price bracket also resides in Co. Kildare: Rathasker Stud's elder statesman Clodovil (Ire). The 21-year-old Clodovil is the sire of 25 stakes winners and, remarkably, had one of his finest years yet in 2021 with six black-type winners headed by his third Group 1 winner, the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac and Prix Francois Boutin victress Tiger Tanaka (Ire). In fact, 2020 was a notable year for Clodovil's juveniles, he having also sired the G3 Molecomb S. winner Steel Bull (Ire). Clodovil is siring black-type winners/runners at a rate of 4.6%, and winners at a rate of 65.2%; those are pretty attractive numbers for a €5,000 fee-like Raven's Pass, Clodovil is at his lowest-ever fee. It is worth noting that Clodovil's triple group-winning son Gregorian (Ire) is also available at Rathasker at the same fee, and he has gotten off to a promising start with five stakes winners from his first three crops to race, including last year's G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte winner Plainchant (Fr) and G3 Summer Fillies' S. victress Queen Jo Jo (GB).

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Irish Stallion Trail Goes Virtual

In a normal year Irish stallion farms would be opening their doors this week to thousands of people traversing the Irish countryside enjoying the ITM Irish Stallion Trail. Of course present circumstances have put a stop to that happening this year but like so many other events that have been adversely affected by Covid-19 the action has moved online. It may not be quite the same as the real thing but at least the efforts of the ITM team in capturing some excellent footage of new and established stallions and the farms where they reside goes some way towards reminding us what we are missing and that we can look forward hopefully to resuming normal practice in 12 months’ time. The newly branded ITM Irish Stallion Showcase has been over two months in the planning and ITM’s Alex Cairns is excited to be able to open a window into the Irish stallion scene, even if it is a virtual window.

“We have video footage from over 20 studs so we’ve had no shortage of content to play out on our YouTube and social media channels throughout the week,” Cairns said. “We started filming on November 1. Rathasker Stud was the first one we did and we’ve covered farms all over the country from the largest operations like Coolmore and Darley down to smaller studs like Kedrah House, Knockhouse Stud and Whytemount Stud. The studs were very accommodating and they all had their stallions looking fantastic so it made the job a bit easier. Obviously we’d love people to be able to experience the trail in person but obviously that isn’t a possibility so hopefully this way will have facilitated Irish stud farms to spread the message about their stallions both new and established.”

Of course the business of racing and bloodstock, like so many other industries, has had to adapt to survive. If people can glean enough information from a horse’s photos and walking videos to make a purchasing decision, as has been the case with online auctions recently, then surely the size, action and conformation of a stallion can be accurately reflected virtually in a similar fashion to aid breeders with their mating decisions in these restrictive times. An advantage of the trail going virtual is the wider reach to which the information can be disseminated and, given how global the bloodstock industry has become, that surely is no bad thing.

“This footage of Irish stallions has the potential to go around the world in a matter of minutes. A lot of these stallions have had international racing campaigns and are known the world over and this gives overseas fans and breeders the next best thing to actually seeing them in the flesh. The videos we have put up so far have had views in the tens of thousands which we are delighted with obviously so hopefully we are doing our bit to help Irish stallion masters promote their product. Another great thing about video content is its lifespan. You could run a video of a young stallion in his first season and in ten years’ time that video could still have a lot of relevance if the stallion has had a successful career. At the moment it’s all about adapting and making the best of the current situation, but hopefully in a post-Covid era we can welcome our international friends back to Ireland to experience our great racing, sales and stallions. In the meantime people can view the videos this week on the ITM website and follow the journey on our social media channels,” Cairns said.

Rathasker Stud was the first to show their wares to the ITM cameras and the stud’s Madeline Burns was delighted to embrace the initiative. “The power of the video has become really apparent this year. Beginning with the sales and following the whole way through to the online ITM Stallion Showcase it has been a great way to market our product not only to the existing audience but to also reach beyond that. The videos have been very beneficial to show what we offer here at Rathasker: four proven stallions that are prolific producers of stakes horses at a very competitive price. We have also been able to incorporate the video advertising into all our stallion promotion. It is available on our social media channels, on our website and on our advertisements as a ‘click to view’ option.”

Given its roster of commercial stallions and its location in the heart of the Thoroughbred County Rathasker Stud always welcomed a steady stream of visitors on previous trails and Burns recognised the value of opening the stud’s doors to both established and also potential ‘would-be’ breeders.

“The stallion trail has always generated a level of interest from breeders but perhaps the most important part of the trail is that it appeals to people that are interested in the concept of breeding and that are considering investment. Anything that brings new people into the industry is a big positive,” she said.

Burns has no shortage of material to use in her 2021 stallion promotion given the exploits of the farm’s stallions last year which are headed by Bungle Inthejungle (GB) who will stand this year at €8,000.

She added, “Our stallions had a banner year in 2020 and we are very proud of their achievements. Bungle Inthejungle produces speed, power and precocity in his stock. He has more than proven himself with high-profile stakes horses and with his biggest and best-bred crops to come from this year on he really is what many have described as ‘a sleeping giant’.”

One farm that has been severely affected by the recent Covid-19 travel restrictions is Coolagown Stud who recently took delivery of a new stallion Way To Paris (GB), a Group 1-winning son of Champs Elysees (GB). The horse only arrived at Coolagown the week before Christmas having run in Hong Kong at the end of November, and no sooner had he landed in Coolagown than the Irish Government began advising people not to make any non-essential journeys.

Coolagown owner David Stack said, “Unfortunately for me, going to see a new stallion is not classed as an essential journey so we have had to rely completely on digital promotion. Due to the restrictions, ITM couldn’t do a video of the horse so we put together one of our own and like every stud at the moment we’ve been limited to showing him off to a few local breeders. However, we have quite a few French- and Italian-owned mares booked into him as breeders from that part of the world would be familiar with him from his racing days, so that is a big help.”

As if dealing with the effects of a pandemic isn’t difficult enough, the issue of travelling mares from overseas to Ireland presents a new set of headaches for Irish stallion farms.

Stack added, “We still don’t know how Brexit is going to impact us. I had three different clients on this morning from the UK. Each one is using a different transporter and each transporter has a different idea about what is required for the journey. It’s still all so vague and it’s the last thing we need right now.”

Even by racing’s standards, Stack is an optimist and despite plenty of obstacles he sees no reduction in the enthusiasm from breeders in his Cork hinterland for the season ahead.

“Certainly around here people are going to plough on regardless, that’s the great thing about this industry, the people involved are made of stern stuff,” he said.

Another farm launching a new stallion this year is Yeomanstown Stud, but unlike Coolagown, the O’Callaghan family was able to avail of a window of opportunity during the rescheduled November Sale at Goffs just before Christmas to allow breeders to take a look at their new offering, Shaman (Ire) (Shamardal).

“We were very lucky to get that few days during Goffs and we had plenty of people calling around to see Shaman,” said Gay O’Callaghan. “Everyone wants to see a new horse in the flesh and thankfully he went down very well with anyone that did get to see him. Things are at a bit of a standstill obviously at the moment, as you’d expect, but bookings in general are about on par for the year that’s in it so that is encouraging. We have seen in the past that when you have a new horse it generally leads to a good bit more business for the other stallions you have but because of the lack of footfall at the moment that’s the kind of traction that is missing. But there is no point getting too depressed about it as it’s out of our control and we will just have to do the best we can given the circumstances.”

Hopefully by this time next year the memories of Covid-19 will be wearing thin and we will all be free to come and go as we choose, but in the meantime virtual tours are the only game in town, so sit back and enjoy the rest of the action this week.

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Rathasker Stud Announces Reduced Fees

Rathasker Stud has released the 2021 covering fees for its four stallions, with all bar one having been dropped in price.

Bungle Inthejungle (GB), sire of this season’s G3 Cornwallis S. winner Winter Power (Ire), who has won four of her nine races in a busy juvenile campaign, will stand at €8,000, down from €12,000 in 2020.

The stud’s stalwart Clodovil (Ire) was represented by a new Group 1 winner this season in the Prix Marcel Boussac heroine Tiger Tanaka (Ire) and he has had his fee reduced from €8,000 to €5,000.

Clodovil stands alongside his son Gregorian (Ire), who has also enjoyed stakes success in France this year via G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte winner Plainchant (Fr), and he too will stand at €5,000, his fee having been dropped from €6,000.

Completing the quartet is Coulsty (Ire), a son of Kodiac (GB) whose first-crop runners this year have posted a strike-rate of 43%, and he remains unchanged at a fee of €4,000.

Commenting on his roster, stud owner Maurice Burns said, “We are very pleased to offer four proven stallions at Rathasker Stud for 2021. This year has been a difficult year for many breeders and in acknowledgment of this we have taken the step to reduce or maintain all our stud fees for 2021.”

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Freshman Sire Coulsty Off the Mark at Kempton

On a banner weekend for his sire Kodiac (GB) (Danehill), Coulsty (Ire) made a mark of his own on Sunday when Eve Johnson Houghton trainee Enduring (GB) justified market support to garner the six-furlong Unibet Thanks The Frontline Workers Maiden Auction S. at Kempton and become the first winner for his Rathasker Stud-based freshman. The February-foaled bay was sent off as the 5-2 joint-favourite coming back from a June 3 debut fourth tackling five furlongs at Great Yarmouth, behind the track-record performance of subsequent G2 Norfolk S. hero The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince of Lir {Ire}), and obliged in style. Slick from the stalls to claim an immediate lead, he held sway throughout and kept on strongly under urging inside the final quarter mile to win, going away, by two lengths from Mitrosonfire (GB) (Lethal Force {Ire}).

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