Two veteran stallion sons of the iron horse Giant's Causeway have been enjoying outstanding seasons in 2019. The brilliant Pinatubo, rated 134p by Timeform, goes straight to the top of Shamardal's list of top runners by Timeform, displacing dual Royal Ascot scorer Blue Point, rated 131 after his rare King's Stand–Diamond Jubilee double. Another Shamardal [...]

It's true that the bloodstock world can be preoccupied with the success or failure of first-season sires. The lack of immediate success can condemn some stallions and it can also put undue pressure on others far too early in their careers. Just like any horse race, the race to become a top sire frequently changes [...]

Last year, Cheveley Park Stud's Pivotal (GB) set a new record for the number of Northern Hemisphere-foaled Group 1 winners by a broodmare sire in a single year. By season's end his daughters has amassed no fewer than 10 individual Group 1 winners. To put his achievement in context, the best previous score was seven [...]

The July festival at Newmarket threw up two fine examples of how Galileo (Ire) and Pivotal (GB) combine in pedigrees. The Falmouth S. winner Veracious (GB) was a perfect example of the continuation of the affinity between the pair, this time expressed through Galileo's son Frankel (GB). Veracious is, of course, the second Group 1 [...]

There were numerous moments to savour at Royal Ascot this year in terms of stallion achievements. The great Galileo consolidated his position atop the overall leader board adding a seventh Group 1 winner in the form of Circus Maximus, who dropped back in distance to take the St James's Palace S. in what has so [...]

The European season has barely begun and there is no escaping the bright start made by Shamardal, who has posted six group winners so far, two more than his closest pursuer, Dubawi (Ire). Recent Group 2 winner, the progressive Morgan Le Faye (GB), is one of eight European stakes winners for her sire this year, [...]

The 3-year-old. Racing lays down its greatest challenges for the 3-year-old, the age when all the Classics are contested. It's the most competitive time in a horse's career when most are still racing and all have had adequate time to mature. Moreover, the modern bloodstock market demands at the very least that stallions produce talented [...]

In the clamour to find the next hot commercial stallion, it's easy to overlook those that have proven time and again that they can produce what we all really want to see–top flight racehorses. The focus here is on Europe as its season comes to a close. The 20 sires on our list are those [...]

Daughters of the great A. P. Indy produced more North American stakes winners in 2018 than any other sire. He has sired the dams of 24 stakes winners so far this year, but is finishing 2018 with a real flourish through triple Grade I scorer and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile hero Game Winner (Candy Ride [...]

In 2018, a new milestone was reached by a broodmare sire in Europe. Pivotal (GB) became the first-ever to be represented by as many as eight individual European Group 1 winners in a single year. And on only four previous occasions has a broodmare sire managed to top the annual list with five or more [...]

Uncovering a new elite sire is always exciting. By definition it doesn't happen very often: a sire that can produce stakes winners at a rate of 10% or higher is hard to find. The last time we got two in the same year was 2009, when Dubawi (Ire) and Shamardal made their debuts. Could 2018 [...]

The European yearling market is positively booming. That's the inescapable conclusion when we examine the returns this year and compare them to the results going back as far as 2010. And it's not just the top of the market that is carrying the whole show, either. At every level from the elite end to the [...]