Diversity Among 2YO Classifications

We are all aware of the dangers posed to the future of the breed by the modern trend of focusing on a handful of supposedly elite stallions, most of whom come from a fairly restricted segment of the sire-line spectrum. Happily, the recently-published European 2-Year-Olds' Classification of 2017 (which ranks the 45 European-trained juveniles who earned a rating of 110 or above) suggest that we need not yet be too concerned because the list displays a much broader variety of stallions than one might have expected to see.

The 45 2-year-olds in question are the products of 29 different stallions. Twenty-one sires have one horse on the list; four have two; three have three; and only one has more than three offspring in the Classification. Inevitably, this one multiply-represented sire is Galileo (Ire) (Sadler's Wells)–which is obvious when one considers that he has long been in a class of his own as regards producing large numbers of good horses. Even so, we have become so accustomed to associating him with the production of Classic, weight-for-age, middle-distance and staying performers that it is still reassuring to find him responsible for seven of the best 45 2-year-olds in Europe.

Of the other three stallions responsible for more than two top juveniles, two are (or were) American-based. War Front (Danzig) and the late Scat Daddy (Johannesburg) each have three representatives on the list. The former's trio is headed by the champion 2-year-old US Navy Flag, who became only the second juvenile in the modern era to complete the double of Britain's two top juvenile races, the G1 Middle Park S. over six furlongs and the G1 Dewhurst S. over seven furlongs. All three are trained by Aidan O'Brien, as is also the case with Scat Daddy's trio of stars, a squad headed by G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner and G1 Dewhurst S. runner-up Mendelssohn.

The other stallion with three youngsters on the list is New Approach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). His presence in this elite company creates the pleasing situation that in 2017 two of the four most prolific sires of good 2-year-olds in Europe were Derby winners. Bearing in mind that 2018 is the first year since 1957 that the previous year's Derby winner has retired to stud in France, there is no harm in emphasising this fact.

Furthermore, one of the four stallions with two offspring on the list is Deep Impact (Jpn) (Sunday Silence), winner in 2005 of Japan's equivalent of the Derby, the G1 Tokyo Yushun. The winner of 12 races between 2000m and 3200m, Deep Impact has had very limited representation in Europe, but his few juveniles racing in Europe last year included the Aidan O'Brien-trained pair of the G1 Racing Post Trophy winner Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and Chesham S. heroine September (Ire), who had the distinction of being Group/Grade 1-placed in Ireland, England and the U.S.

The other three stallions with a brace of offspring in the list are also ones who can be classified as proper Classic sires, rather than specialist sources of sharp juveniles: Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), Dubawi (GB) (Dubai Millennium) and Siyouni (Fr) (Pivotal {GB}). We keep being told that the way to breed a high-class 2-year-old is to concentrate on precocity, but this list suggests that the age-old recipe still applies: just try to breed a high-class horse.

Of the 21 stallions with one son or daughter in the Classification, we can see plenty of the obvious suspects such as Acclamation (GB) (Royal Applause {GB}), Kyllachy (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), Exceed And Excel (Aus) (Danehill), Zebedee (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Oasis Dream (GB) (Green Desert), Invincible Spirit (Ire) (Green Desert) and Iffraaj (GB) (Zafonic). However, there is a similar number of stallions with differing profiles who collectively provide the list with the breadth of diversity which one likes to see in any sires' table.

Roaring Lion, narrow runner-up in the G1 Racing Post Trophy, ranks as the third-best juvenile in Europe, a great result for his sire Kitten's Joy (El Prado {Ire}). Rated only a pound below him is G1 National S. hero Verbal Dexterity (Ire), a son of Seattle Slew's grandson Vocalised (Vindication). Also within the top eight juveniles in the Classification we have G2 Gimcrack S. winner Sands Of Mali (Fr) (Panis) and G1 Prix Morny winner Unfortunately (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}). Neither of their sires would have been on anyone's short-list 12 months ago of stallions likely to be producing a horse challenging for championship honours.

Two stallions with one offspring in the Classification who stand out as being at least as likely to sire a Classic horse as a top juvenile are Reliable Man (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}) and Dabirsim (Fr (Hat Trick {Jpn}), responsible respectively for G3 Preis von Winterfavoriten winner Erasmus (Ger) and G3 Albany S. heroine Different League (Fr). Their presence on the list provides us with pleasant reassurance that the variety which we need to see in the sires' lists is still there. On which subject, special plaudits should be given to arguably the toughest juvenile in the Classifications. Cardsharp (GB) ran consistently well during an honourable 10-race campaign whose highlight was his defeat of US Navy Flag in G2 July S. Cardsharp is a U.S.-conceived son of the former Australian Champion Sire Lonhro (NZ) (Octagonal {NZ}), whose late great-grandsire Sir Tristram has single-handedly kept the brilliant 1968 Derby winner Sir Ivor (Sir Gaylord) alive along the top lines of international pedigrees.