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Value Sires for 2022, Part 1: New Stallions

Welcome to our annual winter survey of Kentucky stallion options–with the difference, this time round, that the emphasis will be far more strictly and succinctly on value.

Over the past couple of years, acknowledging of the brevity of commercial momentum for so many sires once losing their freshman luster, we've got into the habit of granting some attention (more or less courteous!) to just about every stallion in the Bluegrass. But such an exhaustive approach has doubtless proved still more exhausting for the reader than for the compiler.

So, we've resolved to cut to the chase: the most horse for your buck. We'll still be taking each intake in turn, starting here with the new recruits; and we'll briefly assess their overall state of play before making and attempting to justify our selections for the Value Podium. We'll also acknowledge one or two who got close–while omitting more than enough names for no damning inferences to be made…

Of course, it's a wholly subjective exercise. Different stallions fit different mares. Okay, so maybe I would be more inclined than some to try and breed a horse that can actually run, when for many people selling must be the pragmatic priority. But I do persist in the naïve belief that there should be nothing more commercial, in the medium term, than putting a few winners under your mare.

No apologies either, then, for reiterating the usual caveat that almost every new stallion will turn out to be standing at a career-high fee. For every rookie that eventually hits a home run, a dozen will end up packing their bags either for a regional program or overseas.

This observation tends to annoy some people, who complain that proven sires are beyond reach and that you have to try and get ahead of the curve with an untested commodity. But I just don't buy that, when so many affordable stallions are shunned despite showing a consistent ability to get runners. As it is, stallion farms have an ever-narrowing window to retrieve their investment before everyone moves onto the next turn of the carousel. It's not the way they'd choose; and nor are the breeders really to blame. We in the media are certainly complicit, but the real fault rests with those directing investment at ringside.

Regardless, the object of this exercise isn't to identify the prospect “most likely”. If you were doing that, you would plainly start with the blatantly credentialed Essential Quality (Tapit), the sensationally talented Charlatan (Speightstown) or the knockout physical Maxfield (Street Sense). But these are priced accordingly (at $75,000, $50,000 and $40,000) and we're trying to find fees that improve your odds.

True, value can be found at all levels of the market: sometimes the most expensive stallion may actually be more competitively priced than cheaper peers. And this does feel like a fairly ordinary intake, in terms of depth. But it's going to be hard for any rookie to advance his fee, when this is the one opportunity for stud accountants to bank on some demand. Still, we can but try.

Bubbling under: It's rare for an animal as accomplished as Knicks Go to go to stud at so restrained a fee. Whether access to the Horse of the Year elect for just $30,000 at TaylorMade will produce commercial dividends simply depends on how far the market acknowledges that.

Paynter puts him in a tricky place. On the one hand, Knicks Go can't pretend to be a son of Tapit, like Essential Quality. On the other, if he confirms his sire to be terrific value, then you can access the proven fount of his excellence even more inexpensively.

His first three dams, moreover, are by left-field names in Outflanker, Allens Prospect and Medaille d'Or. But these are respectively sons of Danzig (out of a half-sister to Weekend Surprise), Mr. Prospector and Secretariat. Given that Paynter's own mother represents a dynasty that unexpectedly evolved into royalty, it's not as though we are short of viable genetic explanations for Knicks Go.

Remember that his dam deployed stakes speed through four seasons–so anticipating her son's remarkable 2-1-1 Breeders' Cup record at ages two, four and five. The bottom line is that he's standing at a much lower fee than a couple that couldn't lay a glove on him, and nobody should be at all surprised to see him prove his elite caliber all over again.

A quick word for Modernist, a sufficiently respectable racehorse to deserve an opportunity to recycle some illustrious genes from Darby Dan at $10,000. Uncle Mo appears to be a precocious sire of sires, and the same adjective applies to the late Bernardini as a broodmare sire: Modernist is out of a Bernardini half-sister to Breeders' Cup winners Sweet Catomine and Life Is Sweet (both by Storm Cat). And I like an influence as robust as Kris S. behind both the second dam and Uncle Mo's mother, who is by his son Arch.

BRONZE: TACITUS (Tapit–Close Hatches by First Defence)

TaylorMade Stallions $10,000

No doubt Tacitus lost quite a lot of friends in winning just one of his last 12 races. But that record definitely didn't do justice to the ability he had shown in winning his maiden, the GII Tampa Bay Derby (stakes record) and GII Wood Memorial on his way to making the Derby frame via a wide trip. Arguably he was again undone by race position when contriving to lose the GI Belmont S. to Sir Winston (Awesome Again), but he soon ran out of excuses in thereafter mustering only a romp against overmatched rivals in the GII Suburban S.

He did subsequently manage a creditable fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, but the hope that he might piece everything back together this time round backfired horribly when he surfaced only in October, to no great effect, after trying his luck in the desert in February.

But while there were clearly issues ultimately thwarting his fulfilment, Tacitus had shown authentic glimpses of class–sufficient, certainly, to be worth a second chance in his new career. Because none of the stallions in this intake can surpass his genetic package, and he has been priced to tempt even the wariest.

Obviously, he is by a champion stallion out of a champion mare. But the real excitement comes from the sheer depth of a family tree tracing, via a branch cultivated through three generations by Juddmonte, to one of the great modern matriarchs in fifth dam Best In Show (Traffic Judge). The dynasty has repeatedly flashed its continued vitality this year, while this particular branch has another young stallion starting out in Japan in Siskin. That Irish Classic winner shares his sire First Defence with the dam of Tacitus, five-time Grade I winner Close Hatches, along with her unhappily-named sister Lockdown (made the frame in the GI Kentucky Oaks). First Defence, incidentally, is by a son of Unbridled out of Seattle Slew mare–none other than Honest Lady, from Toussaud's brood of Grade I winners–while Tapit is by a grandson of Seattle Slew out of an Unbridled mare.

All in all, then, Tacitus has the kind of seamless pedigree that would have warranted a roll of the dice in, say, a top regional program even if he had never made it onto the track. As it is, he showed enough ability to bank $3.7 million. Conceivably, then, you're looking at a sire who could emulate Tapit himself by redeeming at stud a degree of underachievement on the racetrack.

SILVER: SILVER STATE (Hard Spun–Supreme by Empire Maker)

Claiborne $20,000

Who else could get the silver medal than a horse bearing this name? There's an instant, old-school resonance to a GI Met Mile winner standing at a farm like this, and Claiborne tend to give clients a very fair chance in pricing their new stallions.

It would clearly be edifying for Hard Spun, as our youngest connection to Danzig, to come up with one or two worthy heirs and Silver State developed a pretty eligible profile with maturity. Having only been pushing the margins of the Derby trail as a Fair Grounds sophomore, Hard Spun became an exemplary project for his barn, regrouping after a lay-off to run up a six-timer as he progressed through the grades. He tapered off thereafter, but he had established himself as a tough and classy miler who had put some Danzig pep into a page with plenty of stretch.

Arguably, in fact, he might have flourished from better opportunity to explore his stamina. Certainly, the seeding of his family entitles Silver State to sire Classic types: his graded stakes-placed dam is by Empire Maker; his granddam is a sister to Monarchos, their mother being by Dixieland Band; and the fourth dam is by the doughty influence Roberto out of a half-sister to the mother of Dynaformer.

Roberto recurs in Silver State's pedigree as sire of Hard Spun's granddam, and so flags up the key to why this horse can be a still better stallion than he was a racehorse. For he combines Darby Dan royalty top and bottom. That Roberto granddam was a half-sister to Little Current, which means she was in turn out of a half-sister to two other farm legends in Chateaugay and Primonetta.

I can only imagine that Darby Dan would have loved to welcome Silver State “home” to the farm that cultivated the families of both sire and dam. As it is, it feels apt enough that he retires to the farm that stood his grandsire Danzig. You can measure Silver State's physique by his $450,000 yearling tag, while he won a race that has historically announced many a stallion by making them run that sweeping Belmont mile round a single turn, on a single, speed-carrying gasp.

Pedigree, check. Physique, check. Performance, check. If that's not enough for you, good luck.

GOLD: KNOWN AGENDA (Curlin–Byrama (GB) by Byron {GB})

Spendthrift $10,000

There's been a lot of water under the bridge since, but it's definitely worth rowing back to the spring and remembering how unequivocally blinkers had confirmed Known Agenda's place among the sophomore elite. He would hardly be the first good horse to derail in the Triple Crown series–and the Derby definitely didn't set up for his strengths anyway–and fortunately he had shown the commercial sense to win what is nowadays treated as an almost automatic signpost to stallion stardom, the GI Florida Derby.

A trend like that should not be embraced too literally, of course, but in this case his success corroborated a breakout 11-length romp in blinkers on his previous start. His raw talent had never been in doubt, after the Aqueduct maiden in which he dragged Greatest Honour–to me, still the most flamboyant talent in the crop–21 lengths clear of a colt that subsequently proved his own graded-stakes caliber.

Known Agenda (Curlin) has a most attractive shape to his pedigree, combining a two-turn big hitter on the main track with first and second dams of mutually contrasting profile: respectively a Grade I winner by a sprinting grandson of Danzig, and a daughter of a Classic distaff influence in Europe, Darshaan (GB), himself a son of the copper-bottomed stamina tap Shirley Heights (GB). If the damsire is unfamiliar, Europeans will recall the speed he inherited from both parents; and his bloodlines are regal. There are seams of gold along Known Agenda's bottom line, too: it gave us the redoubtable European influence Pharly (Fr), for instance; the third dam beat an aggregate 59 rivals in winning three consecutive sprints as a juvenile; and among the strands of the indispensable Princequillo are both Round Table and his full sister.

Known Agenda did enough on the track to suggest that he was blending the best of both worlds: speed and stamina, dirt and turf. That, to me, is the foremost commodity we should be seeking in new blood.

He has reliably been priced to have every chance at Spendthrift. That clearly means you are unlikely to be offering the only Known Agenda, at any given sale, but if our priority is value, this is the guy in this intake best equipped to multiply his yield. While you might not always agree with the principles that drive the market, we know how it functions and a breeder can only put bread on the table by anticipating demand. Call it… knowing the agenda! He graduates from an exemplary program and, while there are more accomplished rookies available, they will have to work a lot harder to move up their fees from where they are starting.

The post Value Sires for 2022, Part 1: New Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Sires for 2021: The Regional Scene

After completing our marathon tour of covering options in the Bluegrass, today we take a tour of the main regional hubs. Clearly, it would be impractical to go into anything like the same depth and, besides, local breeders know their own markets best. But while we will only visit some of the principal centers, and pick out only one or two names in each, bloodstock investors anywhere can acknowledge the professionalism that unites horsemen, coast to coast, and think about the possibilities of diversification or experiment–above all in those programs that are incentivizing investment so successfully.

For one thing, many stallions discarded prematurely by Kentucky will deservedly flourish as bigger fish in smaller ponds. I'm sure that can still be the case, for instance, with Fed Biz–the son of Giant's Causeway making a fresh start at Highfield Stock Farm in Alberta. He has made a highly respectable start on the track, with only Cairo Prince in their intake exceeding his nine stakes winners to date, but just ran out of commercial oxygen where he was. Access to this true aristocrat, who beat Goldencents in a Del Mar track record, gives local breeders an exciting chance to raise the bar at $4,000.

Equally, of course, there have been many cases of sires working the reverse passage after starting out with regional mares–some, indeed, becoming massive influences–and those who have transferred Laoban to the Bluegrass from New York will be hoping that he can follow suit.

So we know for a fact that there will be stallions offering good value out there. Let's look for one or two nuggets.

FLORIDA
The big news round here is unmistakably Khozan (Distorted Humor), who maintains the highest fee in the state after winning its 2020 championship with only his second crop on the track. Nationally he stands fifth, by cumulative earnings, among his intake.

The late Awesome Again is an influence in Florida with Awesome Slew and Awesome of Course | Matt Wooley/EquiSport Photos

Royal Delta (Empire Maker)'s half-brother, a $1-million Fasig-Tipton Florida 2-year-old, would hardly be the first to become a significant influence after derailing so early in his track career. We'll see how far he can go, but it's surely only a matter of time before he makes a graded stakes breakthrough after five black-type winners last year. The great thing is that his stock should continue to thrive: being out of an elite producer by A.P. Indy, he's hardly confined to “Florida speed.”

But the word is out and he welcomed 181 mares to Journeyman Stud last year. And he can't be the only show in town. Even within his own class–i.e. about to launch a third crop of juveniles–The Big Beast (Yes It's True) is matching Khozan's ratio of winners and he, too, has two graded stakes performers to date. And, of course, he is less than half the price.

Brethren, by the same sire as Khozan and now with a first graded stakes winner in Cookie Dough (and overall 10.7% black-type horses-to-starters), and First Dude (Stephen Got Even) punched their $7,500 weight for second and third in the earnings table, albeit arguably nobody gives value more consistently than Adios Charlie (Indian Charlie) at just $4,000. His latest flagbearer Jean Elizabeth has been beaten once (by a nose) in her last 10 starts, including two at graded stakes and six at black-type level.

On the same Ocala Stud roster there's now a chance to tap into one of the great modern families through Seeking the Soul (Perfect Soul), while the first four dams (Live Oak family) of Awesome Slew (Awesome Again) are all graded stakes performers and producers. But don't forget another heir to the same, sadly departed sire: Awesome of Course (Awesome Again–Mais Oui, by Lyphard), even though he is now an acknowledged veteran quietly plying his trade to tiny books at $2,000.

Awesome of Course has real breadth of achievement, crowned by four graded stakes winners and five Grade I performers including Breeders' Cup champion Awesome Feather. In 2020 he numbered Florida Derby runner-up Shivaree among eight 90+ Beyers, so he's still keeping up an absolutely excellent output for this kind of fee.

Gunnevera | Sarah Andrew

In terms of fresh blood, meanwhile, it's good to see some promising two-turn stallions around the state (and some decent turf quality, too). The closing kick of Gunnevera (Dialed In–Unbridled Rage, by Unbridled) became so familiar–he was still picking up the pieces in the G1 Dubai World Cup at five, his sixth elite podium–that we tend to forget how he was already rolling in time to win the GII Saratoga Special S. And though he arrives at Pleasant Acres for $6,000 as a famous rags-to-riches story, you couldn't ask for better seeding of his family: first four dams by Unbridled, Graustark, The Minstrel and Turn-to.

Pleasant Acres Stallions is also home to Bucchero (Kantharos–Meetmeontime, by General Meeting), who has covered 291 mares in his first two years in the breeding shed, tops among all Florida-based stallions. Bucchero is a half-brother to the dam of dual-surface Grade I winner and Hill 'n' Dale-based World of Trouble (Kantharos), and he was the leading Florida stallion by average and median at last month's OBS Winter Mixed Sale, his first yearling through the ring having sold for $45,000, nine times his stud fee.

In the market backwaters, meanwhile, there's something pretty remarkable astir in Cajun Breeze (Congrats–Cajun Dawn, by Awesome Again), who is operating on private-treaty terms at Stonehedge Farm South. His track career (four-for-33) gave him highly marginal claims to one at stud, but the fact is that he has had a stakes winner from each of his three crops to date, despite an aggregate of only 31 runners (of which 19 are winners). He just came up with his fourth black-type winner in Cajun Brother, winner of the $75,000 Sunshine Sprint S. I can't really figure it out, either, even if the fourth dam is the very productive Fred W. Hooper mare Queen Pat (Crozier), but something seems to be working and people are gradually cottoning on: Cajun Breeze inched up to 45 mares last spring.

And I'm sorry, but I can't resist stressing that the venerable Greatness (Mr. Prospector–Harbour Club, by Danzig)–with another small firm, in Solera Farm–offers something pretty unique, nowadays, as a son of one breed-shaper out of mare by another, with next two dams by Graustark and, wait for it, Bold Ruler! His books/crops have largely dried up but he has sired some very tough and talented runners in his time (Lady's Island, aged six, won her latest graded stakes just before Christmas before selling for $310,000 at FTKFEB) and, if you could get a filly out of him, how could you price that bloodline at just $2,500? So please do the whole breed a favor and get a last residue of Greatness while we can!

NEW YORK
A changing of the guard here, with stalwarts Bellamy Road (Concerto) and Frost Giant (Giant's Causeway) pensioned even as the heavily subscribed young sensation Central Banker (Speightstown) charged into the slipstream of veteran Big Brown (Boundary) in the state championship–with only a third crop of juveniles in play. With six stakes winners to date, Central Banker stands fifth nationally, among his intake, in cumulative earnings.

Leading the next cycle, the imaginatively promoted War Dancer (War Front) duly became champion freshman, highlighted with a one-two at Saratoga. No less than anywhere else, however, newcomers will doubtless be in strong demand as everyone seeks out the next Laoban.

The most obvious candidate appears to be Solomini (Curlin), as a notably accomplished juvenile for a sire sooner associated with two-turn maturity, from the family of Frosted and Midshipman; so obvious, in fact, that he corralled the biggest book in the state (123) for his debut season alongside Central Banker at McMahon of Saratoga.

Bustin Stones | Sarah Andrew

But your heart meanwhile goes out to some who are doing pretty well from limited opportunity. Yes, there is bound to be much interest in Mr. Monomoy (Palace Malice) at Waldorf Farm, yet poor old Bustin Stones (City Zip–Shesasurething, by Prospectors Gamble) will be entitled to glare at breeders driving the van past him at just $2,500.

He doesn't have his new neighbor's glamorous pedigree–Mr. Monomoy is, of course, a Grade II-winning half-brother to Monomoy Girl (Tapizar)–but he was a very fast horse (GI Carter H., 109 Beyer) who once again came up with his mandatory stakes winners in 2020 (plus seven 90+ Beyers), while confined to a much smaller pool of talent than those he annually joins in the top echelons of the prize money table.

Above all, simply in terms of bang for buck, it feels crazy that you can now get to a stallion as accomplished as Freud (Storm Cat–Mariah's Storm, by Rahy) for just $5,000 at Sequel Stallions. I know he will probably benefit from suitably restrained management, now that he's 23, but Speightstown just got a big fee increase–and he's three weeks older!

Freud | Sarah Andrew

Freud remains an Empire State legend, as a six-time champion and brother to Giant's Causeway, and proved as potent as ever in 2020 with a state-high five stakes winners, eight stakes performers and 15 Beyers of 90+ from fewer runners than Big Brown and Central Banker, the only pair to exceed his earnings. His lifetime numbers put a whole bunch of expensive Kentucky stallions in the shade, with 55 winners and 109 performers at black-type level clocked at a ratio, against named foals, of six and 12% respectively; while his 10 graded stakes scorers include four at the elite level.

We've often spoken about the self-fulfilling prejudice against ageing stallions, and I guess some people would be embarrassed to pick one as “exposed” as Freud as the best value in the state against all these sparkly new stallions. But that's just what he is, and you know it. (If, that is, you want to breed yourself a racehorse.) In fact, there can't be much better value around, coast-to-coast, than Freud at a fee so much lower than all those Kentucky rookies with little realistic prospect of getting anywhere near his record.

A son of Freud's illustrious brother who has been around for a while without ever gaining much profile, meanwhile, is Giant Surprise (Giant's Causeway–Twisted Sis, by A.P. Indy) at Rockridge. His public career lasted 70 seconds in a Saratoga maiden, flimsy-enough grounds for a place at stud, but he has never failed to sire winners at a good percentage from a marginal foothold (including in 2020, with 20 from 37 starters) while his handful of black-type winners are headed by an earner of over $800,000. His dam is by A.P. Indy out of a Grade I winner and, still only 11, he is going to pull a smart one out of his hat someday at just $2,500.

MID-ATLANTIC
There's a big, Jump Start-sized hole hereabouts, as can be seen from the seventh consecutive championship posthumously secured by the Pennsylvania legend in 2020. Warrior's Reward, the strapping son of Medaglia d'Oro brought to the same state in 2018, did reiterate his credentials among active sires and remains in corresponding demand; while those eager to maintain the A.P. Indy connection, and at a very competitive rate, will see Friesan Fire ticking along reliably at Country Life. But a more recent recruit to the same roster has made an auspicious start in the quest to fill the gap.

Mosler | Ellen Pons

Mosler (War Front–Gold Vault, by Arch) has built quickly on his regional freshman title with Hello Hot Rod gamely holding out to complete a hat trick in the Jimmy Winkfield S. the other day. He's the second stakes winner to emerge from Mosler's debut crop, following Miss Nondescript in the Maryland Millions Lassie S., likewise a dirt sprint. But clearly his stock can be expected to emulate his own versatility in terms of surface, once given the chance, and there's a broader sense that he is only just getting going: he's had 13 winners so far from just 28 starters among 71 named foals in his first crop.

Grade II-placed and equal to four campaigns on the track, Mosler offers a conduit to the genes and physique that qualified him as a $1.05-million yearling. He's a half-brother to dual Grade I winner Contested (Ghostzapper) out of a half-sister to Pomeroy, winner of marquee Saratoga sprints in the Forego and King's Bishop, and ultimately traces to triple Classic winner Imprudence (Fr). The big dynamo in his pedigree, however, is the replication of grandsire Danzig behind his damsire, Arch, who was out of Danzig's daughter Aurora.

Mosler, standing at $4,000, will do well to consolidate on his freshman title as impressively as Golden Lad (Medaglia d'Oro), who arguably warranted a rise from $5,000 at Northview after finishing behind only set-your-clock studmate Great Notion (Elusive Quality) in Maryland earnings last year. Out of a stakes-winning half-sister to Dialed In (Mineshaft), he has scored some big sales and is motoring along with three-figure books.

The last word here, however, is reserved for one of the most remarkable stallions in the whole country in Fiber Sonde (Unbridled's Song–Silken Cat, by Storm Cat), who continues to turn out remarkable results from Beau Ridge Farm in West Virginia at a fee of just $1,000. In 2020, this unraced half-brother to Speightstown (Gone West) had eight black-type winners among 53 overall from 96 starters; while his lifetime stakes horses represent 12.2% of named foals.

John McKee bought him for just $8,000 in 2007 and there can't be many horsemen around who have secured–or offered–more horse-per-dollar in recent times. My respect to you, sir!

CALIFORNIA
The most accomplished trainer in the land keeps producing champions out of its most beautiful track, which has itself addressed some big challenges in impressive fashion. So it would certainly be heartening to see some fresh blood invigorating the Cal-bred program. The rookie stallions launched over the past couple of years are working from a small footprint of cheaply bred horses, however, and only a handful appear to be starting up this spring.

Cat Burglar | Elizabeth Hay

A couple of those about to launch their first juveniles have had plenty of support, however, including Danzing Candy (Twirling Candy) at Rancho San Miguel, who herded up 329 mares in his first three books. Hopes must also be high at Barton Thoroughbreds for Cat Burglar (Unbridled's Song–Be My Prospect, by Forest Wildcat), who launches his first juveniles this year. A hard-knocking, Grade II-placed campaigner from the family of Eight Belles (same sire) and Belong to Me (Danzig), he has been priced to have every chance at $2,500 and it's surely auspicious that he welcomed his biggest book yet in his third year.

New blood is never confined to outright rookies, however. Stay Thirsty (Bernardini) has shown the kind of demand that can be achieved by incomers, though he will only have his first state-bred runners this year; it'll be 2022 before Californian dollars start to put some perspective on the Japanese riches amassed by I'll Have Another (Flower Alley); and 2023 before another globetrotter, Sir Prancealot (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), can test a reputation established by migrants on local tracks. That reputation is sufficient to have secured him the premier fee in the state, and the one thing nobody should have any reservations about is his own sire. (Tamayuz belongs to the modern European breed's royal family and has himself proved an admirable achiever, given the mares operating at his level of the market.)

Clubhouse Ride | Horsephotos

The developing story among those who have been here from the outset remains Clubhouse Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}–Seeking Results, by Seeking the Gold), listed at $3,500 by Legacy Ranch. He continues to discover striking quality from small numbers, and has already maintained his momentum in 2021 with Brickyard Ride (now six-for-12) showing blistering pace to win his stakes debut (Beyer 99) in the California Cup Sprint. This is a barnmate of graded stakes winner Warren's Showtime, who made the podium in the GI Del Mar Oaks last summer; and also of Margot's Boy, who missed the GII Del Mar Derby only by a head. All three are in the care of Craig Lewis, who supervised their sire's millionaire career through 43 starts, including Grade I podiums at ages two and six. Clubhouse Ride is out of a half-sister to GI Jockey Club Gold Cup winner River Keen (Ire) (Keen {GB}) from an interesting family, so it's no mystery. His books are going up now and he has really earned his stripes.

Another whose stature grows by the year is Smiling Tiger (Hold That Tiger–Shandra Smiles, by Cahill Road), who produced another five stakes winners in 2020. A multiple Grade I winner himself, he has already produced one to emulate that distinction in Spiced Perfection, and at $7,500 is taking an important role in a new phase for Harris Farms following the loss of Unusual Heat and Lucky Pulpit in 2017.

But the old guard remains admirably represented there by Vronsky (Danzig–Words of War, by Lord At War {Arg}) at $3,500. This very well-bred veteran's average crop only comprises a couple of dozen foals, but he has had a Grade I winner in his time and has certainly made a very sprightly start to 2021: The Chosen Vron following through an impressive debut score by tailcoating an exciting Baffert pair in the GII San Vicente S. last weekend, while the farm's homebred Closing Remarks won the $200,000 California Cup Oaks last month. We know that some of these expensive Kentucky start-ups won't even manage his last month's work in their whole careers, but this is not supposed to be an easy business at any point of the compass.

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Kentucky Sires for 2021: Established Stallions

So here we are at last, rounding the home turn. This series has unfolded in familiar fashion, with an initial stampede of unproven young stallions progressively thinned out by the impatience of a commercial sector operating in ever decreasing cycles. Today we finish with a selection from those admirable stallions who have survived the ruthless attrition, and created a viable niche at various levels of the market.

The odds they have overcome, to get here, are such that the long-term health of the breed is clearly being treated as something our grandchildren can worry about instead. Yes, action is now being taken by the industry, notably on book sizes and medication. But the onus for change is not so much on regulators as on those directing investment. So long as the bloodstock agents (and racing managers and all the rest) keep funneling the budget into untested stallions, then farms can't be blamed for industrial exploitation of flimsy rookies perceived as “commercial” before discarding them to overseas or regional programs. And nor can breeders and pinhookers be blamed for supporting them.

The standard defense, of course, is that you have no choice but to try new stallions unless you can afford the proven operators in the six-figure elite. If that were truly so, however, why don't they support stallions in their third, fourth and fifth years? Why don't they tell their patrons that the time to get real value is when they're cooling off: you could get to Into Mischief for just $7,500 after he had sold his first yearlings, remember, and Tapit for $12,500.

We all know why. It's because professional advisers are too nervous of having their judgement exposed. They daren't risk telling their patrons that now is the time to roll with a slower-burning stallion, in case his first couple of crops go so quietly that he's dispatched to Turkey or Pennsylvania. And of course that becomes self-fulfilling.

Instead they behave as though the sieves of quality and value, between pedigree and conformation and all the rest of it, suddenly cease functioning once a stallion is about to launch his stock. That way they can say: “Don't blame me that this stallion didn't work out. You saw how hot his yearlings were. All the other experts agreed.”

Sky Mesa's lifetime percentages remain tremendous for this level | EquiSport Photos

On that basis, we've already explored some of the best value in the marketplace. But today we're going to browse some of those who, often by combining merit with timely fortune, have come out the other side of this winnowing process. They set a standard that will be met by very few of the new stallions annually flooding the market. As such, in fact, they provide what should (in a sane industry) be the most commercial service of all–by offering tangible, legible prospects of decorating your mare with a stakes winner or two.

The nature of this particular beast means we'll be revisiting some who have featured in years past. One or two have meanwhile faded, naturally; one or two have elevated themselves beyond the reach of “value.” But consistency is what keeps the rest in our esteem, and we'll repay them in kind.

As a general principle, older stallions are a good place to start. I realize that many people are convinced that these greybeards lose their potency, but I suspect this to be one of those self-fulfilling prejudices; not least because ageing achievers often face competition from more affordable sons. There are simply too many top-class runners (and stallions) from the last books of their sires to be dismissed merely as exceptions that prove the rule. And it's certainly splendid to see Speightstown, with four individual Grade I winners in 2020, earn a fee hike from $70,000 to $90,000 at the age of 23!

As ever, anyone in this business who proposes an inviolable “rule” on the basis of a software program should be treated with suspicion; but they do kindly enable some stallions of proven, elite caliber to slip into reach, especially at a time when many farms are cutting fees across the roster.

Malibu Moon | Spendthrift

For instance, do we really think Malibu Moon (A.P. Indy–Macoumba, by Mr. Prospector) a bust, now that he's down to $35,000? This sire of 17 Grade I winners–a tally exceeded among active rivals only by Tapit ($185,000), War Front ($150,000), Medaglia d'Oro ($150,000) and Speightstown himself, who's a year his junior–admittedly had a relatively quiet 2020 on the track, with just a couple of graded stakes winners. But his yearlings were still turning over a six-figure average in a squeezed market, and he's long established the efficacy of his aristocratic genes in producing dirt horses ideally adapted to the demands of Classic racing.

Unlike a lot of veteran sires, moreover, Malibu Moon is not going to run dry of material to keep his name in lights: he has been covering triple-digit books like clockwork, and his imminent juveniles crop comprised 103 live foals. And they're all out of mares deemed worthy of a $75,000 cover. What a terrific price he is now, to prove a young mare!

If you're a breeder, moreover, you'd be willing to retain one of his daughters in the hope of her someday producing another Stellar Wind (Curlin), Girvin (Tale of Ekati) or Bellafina (Quality Road). In that capacity, mind you, we're reluctant to look past another by the same breed-shaping sire.

Bernardini | Darley

For Bernardini (A.P. Indy–Cara Rafaela, by Quiet American) is also down to $35,000 at Darley. That's a milder trim, from $40,000, and presumably prompted primarily by a troubled market environment–but it's also a fourth cut in four years. He was still at six figures as recently as 2017, and as high as $150,000 in his pomp. Having only just turned 18, however, he remains ahead of a genuinely historic curve as a broodmare sire: his daughters have produced more Grade I, graded stakes and black-type winners than any stallion in history, at this stage.

Yet his headline act in 2020 was a colt, Art Collector, who beat Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) comprehensively in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. during a spree that qualified him as one of the best sophomores around. He tapered off somewhat, and Micheline's narrow defeat in the GI Queen Elizabeth II Cup meant that their sire could not add to his 10 domestic Grade I winners (plus three in Australia/one apiece in Italy and Dubai).

Nonetheless, Bernardini has confirmed himself still perfectly capable of producing on the track, doubtless with more to follow given that he's routinely covering books in the 130s. And then there's the extraordinary precocity of his damsire credits, which can be shared between both sides of his pedigree: A.P. Indy's established a formidable distaff influence both through his own daughters and now those of his sons, unsurprising given the Secretariat–Buckpasser combination behind his own dam; while damsire Quiet American is a unique genetic dynamo.

Physically, of course, Bernardini is himself so beautiful a specimen that you're tempted to use adjectives typically reserved for femininity. And if commercial nerves about his recent performance reached his yearlings in the COVID market, then it shouldn't be forgotten that he has always been a lucrative performer in a sales environment that prizes deeds even above those looks: his 2-year-olds last year averaged $176,265, and only Storm Cat beats his 25 lifetime juveniles at $500,000-plus. Bottom line is that any breeder inclined to retain a filly will not get better value than Bernardini, perhaps anywhere in the world.

Hard Spun | Darley

Mind you, end-users simply looking for a runner won't even have to leave Jonabell for a fine alternative at the same peg in Hard Spun (Danzig–Turkish Tryst, by Turkoman). His own excellence on the track, of course, reinforces our earlier defense of senior stallions (conceived when Danzig was 26) and Hard Spun continues to punch way above weight at $35,000, charitably clipped from $40,000 despite following up his stellar 2019 (three Grade I winners, all from his first crop since returning from that unhelpful sojourn in Japan) with another top 10 finish in the general sires' table.

This sire of 10 Grade I winners has assembled his 129 lifetime black-type performers at 11.5%–a tick behind Uncle Mo, for instance, who has advanced his fee to $175,000 with eight Grade I winners and 12% stakes performers. And Hard Spun has an exciting sophomore in Smarty Jones S. winner Caddo River, as high as No. 2 in colleague T.D. Thornton's Derby Top 12.

Despite the quirky damsire, it's all good stuff along that Darby Dan bottom line, with a half-sister to Little Current as close up as second dam; while Hard Spun's half-sister has refreshed the family page in more recent times as second dam of Improbable (City Zip). Above all, Hard Spun throws us as short a lifeline as we have, and at a fraction of the cost of War Front, to their breed-shaping sire.

Moreover he is parlaying his genes into such diverse disciplines and environments that he really should be much higher on the list for European breeders, as well. (Good to see one daughter, pinhooked as a $70,000 Keeneland September RNA, making 375,000gns at the Tattersalls Breeze-Ups last summer; she duly won her only start.)

Blame | Claiborne

Another whose fee trim for 2021 ($30,000 from $35,000) must be accounted simply a friendly gesture to a difficult trading environment is Blame (Arch–Liable, by Seeking the Gold). Because the Claiborne stallion has long passed the stage when he needs that kind of help. In fact, he has become a tribute to exemplary management, rebuilding in pretty spectacular fashion from a point where he did appear to be in a spot of trouble.

That was in 2018, when his fee was halved to $12,500. At that stage, he had made a similarly quiet start to that once made by his own sire on the same farm, and was down to just 48 mares the previous year–albeit he promptly had a breakthrough Classic success in Europe. Since then, he has left no doubt that he is successfully replicating the elite genetic wares that underpinned nine consecutive triple-digit Beyers and a historic distinction as the only horse ever to beat Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}).

Though unlucky to have soon lost the services of his fifth elite winner, Nadal, Blame had nine other graded stakes performers in 2020. Actually, Blame's overall output, after eight crops, is now strikingly similar to that of Quality Road, who started at the same time and smoothly elevated himself to $150,000 thanks to 11 Grade I winners at a ratio surpassing nearly all comers. For Blame can otherwise nearly match him for the across-the-board consistency: by stakes winners, Quality Road's 6.5% plays 6% for Blame (black-type performers (12.5 and 12.2%); they respectively stand at 3.7 and 3.3% for graded stakes winners, and 6.2 and 6.4% for graded stakes horses; while their overall Grade I performers measure up at 2.5 and 2.3%.

Again, this comparison is only intended to magnify Blame and not belittle a top-class alternative, and it must be said that their latest yearling averages (as so often tends to be the case) dutifully reflect the difference in fees. True, even a $57,884 average for Blame looked after their $12,500 conception fee very nicely–and that, in itself, is a reminder that Blame's revival since should be sustained, in terms of racetrack headlines, by the improved quality and size (now routinely in three figures) of his books.

Having just turned 15, Blame is entering his prime. So forget Quality Road for a minute. As a percentage of named foals, despite that sticky start, Blame now measures up to Into Mischief for Grade I winners; Ghostzapper for Grade I horses; More Than Ready for graded stakes winners; Kitten's Joy for graded stakes horses; Uncle Mo for stakes horses; and Candy Ride (Arg) for stakes winners. Oh yes, and he just had his fee cut. That either shows you prove anything with statistics, or that he deserves gold on our final “value podium.” (See below…)

None of this is hard to explain: Blame has a for-the-ages pedigree, with fourth dam Thong standing opposite Courtly Dee in Arch's maternal line. That's like a time capsule for everything we need to retain in the breed. Sure enough, he's obviously another who would make any breeder glad to retain a filly.

English Channel | Sarah Andrew

We don't need too much detail on the eligibility of English Channel (Smart Strike–Belva, by Theatrical {Ire}) for this list, having so recently celebrated his breakthrough turf championship (by domestic and/or Northern Hemisphere earnings). We remarked then that if Kitten's Joy has been crazily undervalued by European prospectors, we should be outright scandalized by neglect of a stallion whose lifetime percentages either match or (mostly) surpass that acknowledged turf Titan, right across the board.

We know that the commercial market has an infantile terror of grass, but the combined class and durability of stallions like these are precisely what the breed overall requires most urgently. These days Calumet may sing from a rather different hymnsheet from most commercial horsemen, but at $27,500 (down from $35,000) English Channel is an imperative option for end users–most obviously, if by no means exclusively, those eager to exploit the expanding turf program.

Lookin At Lucky | Coolmore

For a long time, we were able to bracket another by the same stallion, Lookin At Lucky (Smart Strike–Private Feeling, by Belong to Me) with his Ashford buddy Munnings (Speightstown) as a pair who together represented great value at a similar level. The Munnings train has meanwhile left town: nobody ever needed telling about him, to be honest, because everyone already seemed to know. His books have been soaring, in quality and quantity, and now the dividends are there for Kentucky's No. 7 stallion by earnings in 2020, with six graded stakes winners.

But poor old Lookin At Lucky remains grievously underrated, whatever he does. He's still stranded at $20,000, a fee now doubled by Munnings, and received 113 mares last spring compared with 207 for his uber-fashionable rival. And, cursed by a self-fulfilling reputation (“not a sales sire”), his yearlings averaged $33,777 even as Munnings swaggered his way up to $80,932.

But Lookin At Lucky's record is so much better than many a “sales sire” that he points an accusing finger at the whole business. Just what are these guys looking for? A racehorse, or a pretty model for art students? His cumulative achievements, even now, keep him on a par with Munnings himself. Okay, so he is outpunched on stakes winners (6.7 versus 4.7% of named foals), but other indices keep the ugly duckling right alongside the swan. Lookin At Lucky gets black-type horses at 10.3 against 10.7%; graded stakes winners at 2.5 against 2.6%; graded stakes performers at 4.9 against 4.4%; Grade I horses at 2.2 against 1.2%.

And while Munnings still has just two elite scorers from 685 named foals, Lookin At Lucky (553) has come up with winners of the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Kentucky Derby and a Beldame winner who then ran Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) to a length in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. When he connects, Lucky hits as hard as anyone. Those who quibble over the promotion of Country House, incidentally, should remind themselves that he was not the only son of Lookin At Lucky to have passed the post second in the one race everyone claims to have in mind when they go to Keeneland in September.

It's nuts, really. Here's a stallion who has repeatedly produced elite two-turn horses, from mares on a $20,000 covering budget, and still a lot of agents put an automatic line through his yearlings. But that's fine. See you guys in the winner's circle. Because Lookin At Lucky doesn't have to get mad. He can just get even.

The Factor | Lee Thomas

The Factor (War Front–Greyciousness, by Miswaki) had another productive campaign in 2020, just cents off the top 10 among living Kentucky stallions, but Lane's End held him at $17,500. That's doubtless because this last yearling cycle was the one he missed through his season in Japan, so he'll be quieter on the track this time round, but patience will bring its rewards: his book last spring rocketed to 150, from 80 in his comeback year.

In fact, patience has been the key throughout. The Factor lost early momentum when his first crop, conspicuously well received at the sales, turned out not to be the sharp and early types everyone had anticipated. But they proved worth the wait, and The Factor's cumulative percentages now stack up very closely with those of his flourishing studmate Twirling Candy, who deservedly commands a fee of $40,000. The Factor is surely just refueling at this kind of fee, and can be expected to motor upwards once back on the highway.

Midnight Lute | Sarah Andrew

A half-sister to The Factor wrote an important new chapter for Midnight Lute (Real Quiet–Candytuft, by Dehere) in 2020 when her daughter Keeper Ofthe Stars became the Hill 'n' Dale stallion's fourth Grade I winner. It was a good campaign all round for Midnight Lute, with three others adding elite podiums to Grade II success. That's especially important for one who has produced such an extravagant talent in Midnight Bisou that people don't always recognize his breadth of achievement. As a turf miler, moreover, Keeper Ofthe Stars reiterated the versatility of a horse who was celebrated on the track as very fast, and very tall, but who very adaptably recycles a ton of Classic genes and all-round physical quality.

Another old pal is Sky Mesa (Pulpit–Caress, by Storm Cat). Good to see that he welcomed a three-figure book to Three Chimneys last year, up from 59 in 2019. Admittedly he had a quiet campaign, with just three stakes winners, but his page has been freshened up by Maxfield (Street Sense), who is out of a half-sister, and he gets a helpful trim to $12,500 (from $15,000). His lifetime percentages remain tremendous, for this level: black-type winners/horses to named foals at 6.5 and 12.7% respectively, which is as much as can be said even for stallions as accomplished as, for instance, Candy Ride (Arg), Street Sense or Flatter.

Midshipman | Darley

Midshipman (Unbridled's Song–Fleet Lady, by Avenue of Flags) meanwhile continued his metronomic service at Darley, another eight stakes winners in 2020 maintaining his unbelievable consistency for one operating at this end of the market: he, too, has lifetime stakes performers at 12% of named foals. To ease him a little to just $7,500, when routinely covering three-figure books, is really looking after the working breeder at a difficult time. I really look forward to the day when Midshipman gets the domestic Grade I success that is surely, given his achievements with such limited mares, well within his competence.

Mind you, Mizzen Mast (Cozzene–Kinema, by Graustark) has had eight of those! Here's another big firm looking after the little guy, with Juddmonte standing this venerable creature at the same bargain fee. He's a versatile influence in everything with the class that has united achievers in every theatre–short and long, turf and dirt–and he's now of an age where his daughters can show the same merit, most recently through Ete Indien (Summer Front), Nashville (Speightstown) and Classic-placed European filly Quadrilateral (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

So having started with a veteran, we finish with one, too. Because for a fee you could carry into the farm office in a cigar box, you can still tap into a grandson of Caro (Ire), with first two dams by Graustark and Tom Fool. Show me something like that in the freshman's table, and you get my attention.

CHRIS McGRATH'S VALUE PODIUM
Gold: Blame ($30,000, Claiborne)
   Now nearing elite status by any measure but price.
Silver: Lookin At Lucky ($20,000, Coolmore)
   Seems that nobody is ever Lookin' hard enough.
Bronze: Mizzen Mast ($7,500, Juddmonte)
   Hurry for those genes while they last!

The post Kentucky Sires for 2021: Established Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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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).

The post Value Sires Part 6: Proven Sires appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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