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Apex Up Close

The APEX (Annual Progeny Earnings index) method of rating stallions uses many of the same basic principles as the average-earnings index, but rates a stallion’s consistency at siring high-level performers, so that one super-earner doesn’t unrealistically skew a sire’s average-earnings index. There are many ways of looking at the statistic–each sire has 17 different APEX ratings–including progeny performance at different ages, by different class bands and in different regions. Stallions can also be measured against only those whose crops hit the track in the same year. Each week, beginning this week, the TDN will offer a different APEX snapshot with a brief analysis by APEX’s author, Bill Oppenheim.

Bill Oppenheim: Tapit, ‘Medaglia’ Top 2015 ABC Sires

Through racing of July 5, when we ran the Midyear APEX data, a North American racehorse needed to have earned just over $40,000 thus far in 2015 to qualify as a Midyear ‘C Runner’, and just over $83,000 to qualify as a Midyear ‘A Runner’; you can see the amounts (converted to US$) for the...

Bill Oppenheim: Apex Leaders

Last week we took a look at the Top 50 North American and European sires by APEX A Runner Index (click here), using new Midyear 2015 data, meaning from 1/1/2009 through 7/5/2015. A particular note about this, if you will refer to the table on page five of last Wednesday’s paper, is that the earnings...

Bill Oppenheim: Midyear Apex

At the end of 2014, Coolmore’s Galileo had finally ascended to the top of the list of North American and European sires by A Runner Index, with a 4.09 rating (8.18% of his 1,822 year-starters 2008-2014), just slightly ahead of Claiborne’s War Front (4.02). Now, halfway through 2015, War Front (3.98) has edged ahead of...

APEX Earning Thresholds 2008-2014

When you see that Coolmore=s top sire, Galileo, had 66 black-type horses (BTH) last year, of which 50 were graded/group stakes horses (GSH), it’s not surprising he’s also the leading 2014 North American or European sire of APEX ABC Runners. To review, a horse becomes an ABC Runner (meaning A Runner, or B Runner, or...

Three More Top 50’s

Last week we looked at the top 50 sires with 200+ year-starters (‘runners’) 2008-2014 by the signature APEX A Runner Index. This week we’d like to look at three more Top 50’s, as well as sires with first foals 2010 (4-year-olds of 2014) and 2011 (3-year-olds of 2014). As we mentioned last week, when you...

2014 ABC Runners: Galileo Nips Speightstown

Finding a racehorse that makes money is a challenge. By our calculations, only 8% of all the runners in North America in 2013 earned $53,500 or more ($53,492, to be precise). Recent studies show that it takes about $50,000, if not more, to have a horse in training at the major tracks for a year....

Top Apex Sires

At the end of 2006, a total of 1,156 sires which stood or had stood in North America, Europe, and Japan qualified for APEX ratings, meaning, basically, that they had 10 or more 3-year-olds in the last year covered (in that case, foals of 2003 and 3-year-olds of 2006). By midyear 2014–The Jockey Club Information...

2013 TABLES

I know all this data isn=t the easiest to sort out, in fact, I even forgot and said in my column yesterday there are 13 APEX indexes, when actually there are 17: A, B, and C Runners for three regions (North America, ‘Europe’ [GB/ Ireland, France, Germany], and Japan) plus for all three regions combined...

LEADERS LISTS FOR 2013

Of the 937 sires which were assigned APEX ratings at the end of 2013 (meaning they had 10 or more 3-year-olds in 2013), there are 501 sires which stand or stood in North America or ‘Europe’ (England, Ireland, France, or Germany) and which had 200 or more year-starters (denoted ‘runners’, though in this case a...

APEX: IMPACT SIRES

Three sires with 200+ year-starters recorded APEX (Annual Progeny Earnings IndeX) A Runner Index (ARI) figures of 4.00 or higher for the seven-year period 2007-2013, according to data provided to us through the end of 2013 by The Jockey Club Information Systems (TJCIS).

Leading Sires of 2013 ABC Runners Through

‘Saturday’ horses. That’s what the commercial market is all about. Horses that can run at the big tracks, on the big days, in the big races. There are various ways of tallying sires’ performances in this respect; our way, as you know, is earnings-based. The top 8% of earners in each jurisdiction we cover, each...