The definition of success for a stallion varies from horse to horse and farm to farm, but few would argue that a stallion is set up to accomplish those goals without a robust book of mares to support them.
There are always caveats – restrictive stud fees, stud book caps, geography, and pedigree mismatches will eliminate certain mares from certain sires – but there are few truer indicators of a stallion's approval rating with breeders than the number of mares they cover during the breeding season. With The Jockey Club's release of the 2023 Report of Mares Bred last month, we can see exactly how those straw polls shook out, and which veteran stallions saw the biggest year-to-year gains in visitors.
A dramatic increase in mares bred for a stallion can mean a number of things for that horse's present and future. For many, the boost comes in the wake of a strong freshman season, where successful juveniles help convince breeders that a stallion is on his way to becoming a proven commodity. Many of these stallions experience a swoon in mares bred during their third and fourth books from cautious breeders not wanting to get stuck with a non-commercial foal if those first runners flop on the track, but once that hurdle is cleared, those stallions often enjoy a healthy bump of more and better mares.
Others benefit from a change in scenery, whether that's relocating to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond or climbing the ladder to prove oneself with higher-quality mares.
Of course, not every stallion's number of mares bred is created equal. Some stallions' books are capped by their farms to minimize wear and tear. Deals are made. Stallion seasons are donated. Stallion owners breed their own mares. If a stallion has 100 reported mares bred, that does not mean he generated 100 paying customers.
Furthermore, the starting point can change the meaning of a gain or loss in mares bred. If a proven stallion covering over 175 mares per year fluctuates by 20 mares, they've still got a busy season in the shed. If 20 mares doubles a stallion's book, that could change his entire career trajectory.
Regardless, if the number of mares bred is up, business is probably good for a stallion and a farm. Following is a list of the stallions who saw the biggest jumps in mares bred in 2023.
The stallion with the biggest year-over-year gain in mares bred was Mill Ridge Farm's Oscar Performance, who saw a 97-mare increase from 63 bred in 2022 to 160 in 2023.
The 9-year-old son of Kitten's Joy (and a member of the 2022-23 All-Value Sire Team) was last year's leading North American freshman sire by turf winners and earnings in 2022. Leading that charge throughout the year was Andthewinneris, a colt who won on debut during Keeneland's spring meet and came back that fall to win the Grade 2 Bourbon Stakes en route to a start in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.
“I think that, realistically and reasonably, a number of breeders kind of waited to see, but we have continued to have more inquiries from more depth of breeders, starting last year than we'd had before,” said Price Bell of Mill Ridge Farm. “There's a little bit of a, 'Show me what he is. Show me what he's got.' We've been very blessed to have that kind of momentum continue.”
Oscar Performance's pedigree leans heavily toward turf, and he was a four-time Grade 1 winner on the surface, including the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. While his freshman success on the grass could be easily expected, the rise of Red Carpet Ready was not quite as forecastable.
After winning her debut on the main track at Churchill Downs by 10 lengths, the filly easily won the Fern Creek Stakes at the same track a month later. She then started her 3-year-old campaign with a win in the G3 Forward Gal Stakes on the dirt at Gulfstream Park.
The hard truth of the North American Thoroughbred industry at the moment is a sire with turf leanings is usually burdened with a commercial ceiling. Being able to sire foals beyond that scope likely helped when breeders came back around to examine the performance of the freshman sires.
“I've always always felt like his foals – yearlings, 2-year-olds, just exceeded expectations,” Bell said. “Whatever a 'turf horse' looks like, they didn't look like a turf horse. Even though the expectation was around turf, to see the results on the dirt, I think has, given an extra lift to him.”
Support our journalism
If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.Looking to Oscar Performance's long-term place in the North American stud book, he holds a great advantage in the race to be the continent's primary extension of the Kitten's Joy sire line. After repeatedly proving himself with his runners, Kitten's Joy saw a shift from being bred primarily to mares claimed by owner/breeder Ken Ramsey to finding acceptance within the greater bloodstock community later in his career. With higher quality mares came more physically attractive and commercially appealing stock, and Oscar Performance is arguably the greatest example of that second phase.
However, Bell said his conversations with breeders have had them looking further back in his family tree for his ultimate place in the lexicon.
“Of late, people been talking more about El Prado,” Bell said, referring to Oscar Performance's paternal grandsire, “I don't know if maybe they're associating him more with Medaglia d'Oro (a son of El Prado), than maybe Kitten's Joy, getting good precocious 2-year-old dirt horses. … Maybe there will be continuation of the line and maybe that line really ends up capturing kind of the El Prado line. If you've got Violence (a son of Medaglia d'Oro) and Volatile, and now Forte (sons of Violence), maybe Oscar performance kind of plays within that space as well.”
Finishing close behind Oscar Performance was Airdrie Stud's Girvin, who saw his mare count rise by 95, from 86 last year to 181 during the most recent breeding season.
This was the first season at Airdrie Stud in Midway, Ky., for the 9-year-old Tale of Ekati horse, who began his stud career in Florida at Ocala Stud. His debut juveniles blew away their expectations, landing Girvin in the top five freshman sires by total progeny earnings, and tied for second by stakes winners.
His summer slate was led by Damon's Mound, who smashed his debut by 12 1/2 lengths, and followed up with a 3 1/4-length win in the G2 Saratoga Special Stakes. Girvin was then led into the breeding season by Faiza going unbeaten in her first five starts, including the G1 Starlet Stakes and the G2 Santa Anita Oaks. On the East Coast, Girvin sent Dorth Vader to this year's Kentucky Oaks after scoring in a pair of Florida stakes and springing an upset in the G2 Davona Dale Stakes.
When Girvin moved to Kentucky, he opened himself up to a much broader scope of mares. When Girvin stood his final season in Florida, there were 1,530 mares bred in the state. During the most recently completed season in Kentucky, there were 16,953 reported mares bred. There are obviously more stallions in Kentucky to compete for all of those mares, but a bigger pie has this far led to a bigger slice.
Army Mule, another freshman sire of 2022, finished third with a gain of 84 mares, going up 115 to 199.
The resident of Hill 'n' Dale Farms finished fourth in his freshman class by progeny earnings, and he tied for second by stakes winners, with four.
In fourth was Sharp Azteca, whose book grew by 76 mares from 37 to 115. Yet another member of last year's freshman class, the son of Freud finished sixth among first-crop sires by earnings, led by four-time stakes winner Tyler's Tribe.
Sharp Azteca previously stood at Three Chimneys in Kentucky before being sold to stand at Shizunai Stallion Farm in Japan.
A pair of Ashford Stud residents tied for the fifth spot – Justify and Uncle Mo – each growing by 74 mares.
Justify, like the stallions higher on this list, was a member of last year's freshman sire crop, finishing third by earnings and tying for the most stakes winners.
Uncle Mo saw the biggest year-to-year gain of any stallion that wasn't coming off their freshman season. He finished 2022 as the sixth-leading general sire with runners including Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal.
The post Which Stallions Saw The Biggest Spikes In Popularity In 2023? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
