Sire Success Spreading Farther, Wider

The business of standing stallions has long been perceived to be a practice reserved for the elitist of the elite in the Sport of Kings. Acquiring a colt good enough to materialize into a stallion–not to even mention scooping one up after an accomplished racing career–was out of the financial reach of most stallion masters, and therefore history has seen the most successful stallions concentrated at a small group of farms, whether that be in Kentucky or Europe.

A look at more recent sire lists, however, suggest that trend is changing. The current top 10 leading sires standing in Europe (based on the TDN's 2016 year-to-date general sire list of earnings accumulated in North America and Europe through Aug. 16) stand at nine different farms, and the top 15 at 11 different farms (that is of course not to say they're owned by different entities, but they stand at different facilities). As recently as 2011, the top 10 European sires stood at just five different studs. The previous year, all but one of the top 10 sires stood at either Coolmore, Darley or Juddmonte.

Those powerhouses are responsible for five of the current top 10, but also popping up are smaller entities like Yeomanstown Stud (sixth, Dark Angel {Ire}), Rathbarry Stud (seventh, Acclamation {GB}), and Tally-Ho Stud (eighth, Kodiac {GB}). Looking a bit further down the list, the Malone family's Ballylinch Stud stands number 11 Lope De Vega (Ire); number 12, Le Havre (Ire), is at La Cauviniere in France; and Cheveley Park Stud's ever-reliable Pivotal (GB) is number 13.

Is there a reason why the leading sires are beginning to spread out among different farms? It is difficult to nail down a concrete reason, but conversations with stud managers and breeders have revealed a few theories.

Looking back at the top 10, a common thread can be found between Dark Angel, Acclamation and Kodiac: they were all top-class sprinters who are siring horses in the same mould. Sprinters tend to have lighter pedigrees and are therefore easier for smaller operations to buy than middle-distance or Classic-type horses, and the current appetite for speed and precocity could be contributing to the rising prominence of these types at stud.

Cheveley Park Stud in Newmarket has built an excellent reputation with sprinting stallions as its foundation since being bought by David and Patricia Thompson in 1975, and Cheveley's Managing Director Chris Richardson said he thinks the current fashionability of sprinters has contributed to today's spread of sires.

“I think a big part of it is that we're breeding a lot for speed,” Richardson said. “The speed influence is quite prevalent at the moment; I'm not necessarily sure that's a good thing in the long term, we obviously need to have staying stallions, but [speed] is becoming very much more commercial and people like to see the potential of a quicker return. Prize money is improving in this country but training fees are going up.”

Fiona Craig, advisor to Moyglare Stud, echoed the sentiment that sprinting stallions are a separate, more accessible segment of the stallion market.

“Historically, even though sprinters have made good stallions, I think that's the type of horse [smaller farms] can go out and buy,” Craig noted. “They don't tend to have a big posh pedigree, and normally a lot of the established breeders, like Moyglare, are trying to breed the Classic horse.”

Craig pointed out that the sprinting-type stallion is typical of what some of the smaller operations have stood.

“We've got these various sprinting stallions, the Dark Angels, the Kodiac-type horses; they've always belonged to the smaller farms,” she said. “Historically in Ireland, that's what the smaller farms stood.”

Craig said the success of horses like Dark Angel will make them a more popular commodity for the larger studs. Darley last year bought into Dark Angel, and Sheikh Hamdan last year retired its champion sprinter Muhaarar (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) to its Newmarket nursery, where he proved very popular.

“It'll make people look for them more,” Craig said. “That's why Shadwell were able to stand their colt last year for £30,000, and he was full.”

“We're lucky at the moment that we have Dark Angel,” she added. “Smaller farms have always bought that sort of stallion because they can get to them; they're not the top of the list of all the big guys shopping. And they often tend to come from sales and maybe cheaper bred, and so they start off with different trainers and different types of owners.”

The aforementioned Dark Angel was bred by the O'Callaghan family's Yeomanstown Stud in Ireland, and returned to that nursery to stand at stud. Dark Angel was retired after a busy nine-race 2-year-old career that saw him win the G1 Middle Park S., but has proven an ability to sire smart sprinters that train on, such as his two Group 1 winners Mecca's Angel (Ire) and Lethal Force (Ire), the latter of which stands at Cheveley Park Stud and has his first yearlings this year. Yeomanstown's David O'Callaghan stressed the importance of a sprint stallion siring progeny that can train on.

“If a stallion gets pigeonholed as just an early speed sire and doesn't get horses who show a bit more class or train on at three or four, then that same stallion will struggle to make a consistent mark high up the stallion ranks, as middle-distance earnings are generally higher than sprinters,” he pointed out. “So it is more than cheap speed that has propelled and maintained the presence of what would be considered top producers of early speedy types at the top of the stallion ranks.”

O'Callaghan noted early speed is a plus in a stallion prospect, but a truly attractive colt requires more than that. “soundness, toughness, plus class and pedigree are huge factors too,” he said.

Godolphin has this year made headlines by buying into some top-class sprinters as future members of the Darley stallion roster, including G1 Diamond Jubilee S. winner Profitable (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and group winners Dutch Connection (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) and Home of the Brave (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}). Darley's Director of Stallions Sam Bullard said speed sires have always been considered an important aspect of the operation's program.

“Whether talking about Exceed And Excel from Australia or Iffraaj from Britain, Darley has always aimed to supply top-quality speed to breeders with our stallion roster,” he said. “The likes of Profitable, Dutch Connection and Home Of The Brave will complement the exciting speedsters we bring up from the Southern Hemisphere such as Helmet, Sepoy and Brazen Beau.”

Ballylinch Stud Managing Director John O'Connor noted that owners who end up with a good colt may be more willing now than ever to stand the horse themselves rather than selling it on to larger stud farm.

“It's an unusual situation,” O'Connor admitted of the current wide spread of stallions. “I think it's just a factor of stallions being less likely to be sold now, because farms would like to keep them. Not many of the successful stallions have been moved from one farm to another in recent years, so that's possibly one of the reasons why. The rest of it might be just coincidence in the sense that maybe emerging stallions have arrived on the scene over the last few years and they happen to be at different farms.”

The decision to retain colts to stand at stud has paid dividends for a handful of French studs. Gerard Augustin-Normand retired his G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Le Havre to his Haras de la Cauviniere in 2010, and he sired dual French Classic winners Avenir Certain (Fr) and La Cressonniere (Fr) in his first and third crops. Similarly, the Aga Khan has enjoyed great success with his G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Siyouni (Fr) (Pivotal {GB}) at his Haras de Bonneval. Another Lagardere winner now standing in France and showing promise at stud is Haras d'Etreham's Wootton Bassett (GB), sire of this year's G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Almanzor (Fr). Kendargent (Fr) (Kendor {Fr}), was retained by his owner, Haras de Colleville's Guy Pariente, who entered stud in 2010 for a fee of €500. Fourteen stakes winners later, he stood this year for €18,000.

This quartet has spurred a resurgence of the French stallion market, and their success is catching the attention of breeders in England and Ireland.

“It's an exciting time for France,” said Mathieu Alex of Haras de la Cauviniere. “We haven't had so many young, exciting stallions in at least 20 years.”

Alex pointed out that the aforementioned four were all retained by their owners, when in the past they may have been sold to stand at bigger stud farms in England and Ireland.

“When you think about Le Havre, Kendargent and Wootton Bassett, they're similar in the way that their owners kept them,” he explained. “In the past a lot of stallions were either sold or standing in Ireland or England. Siyouni is somewhat the same but he was syndicated immediately when he was retired, whereas Le Havre and Kendargent were syndicated a bit later on.”

He noted that all four were, in addition, heavily supported with mares in-house.

“What's very important is, when you look at the success of Le Havre, Siyouni, Kendargent and Wootton Bassett, these horses' best progeny were owned by their owners,” Alex said. “We supported them, definitely Le Havre anyway. Most of his best horses so far are owned by Mr. Augustin-Normand because he retired Le Havre and bought mares for the horse and supported him all the way.”

Alex recognized this is not a financially viable plan for everyone.

“Mr. Augustin-Normand could afford to keep him, but most of the people that have very good colts sell them for financial reasons,” he said. “I think it's interesting to see though that these people had faith in their horses and it worked.”

More good news for the French stallions ranks is the deals made by some farms to split the services of young stallions with French studs. G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Intello (Ger) (Galileo {Ire}), whose first yearlings were highly sought after at Arqana this week, will move on a two-year rotation between Cheveley Park and Haras du Quesnay, while Tweenhills has entered into a long-term arrangement with the Aga Khan's Haras de Bonneval and has already stood Makfi (GB) and Charm Spirit (Ire) in France. Sheikh Joaan has also retired Group 1 winners like Olympic Glory (Ire), Style Vendome (Fr) and The Wow Signal (Ire) to his Haras de Bouquetot, and his passion for French racing can only be good news for the country's breeding program, too.

When a farm stands a successful stallion, it is also likely to reinvest in a younger stallion, thus keeping the cycle going, explained O'Connor. Ballylinch has enjoyed plenty of success with its 2014 champion first-season sire Lope De Vega (Ire), and last year added dual Group 1-winning 3-year-old Make Believe (GB) (Makfi {GB}) to its roster.

Richardson also pointed toward the sheer quality of the European Thoroughbred currently as a reason why more farms are now able to stand a stallion.

“The quality of the stallions standing in this country is being reflected in the success of the progeny they're now producing,” he said. “We have some very exciting stallions in this part of the world at this point.”

Bullard pointed to that same theory as the reason behind the spread.

“Never has the international demand for European Thoroughbreds been so high, so therefore there are bound to be many more stud farms involved in standing the top stallions that produce such horses,” he said.

While the current propensity towards sprinters–combined with the fact that more owners may be inclined to stand their own stallions at stud as well as the general health of the European industry–could be having an influence on the growing spread of leading sires among stud farms, it was a consensus that the trend is likely down to a combination of factors.

“It shows that there are many good farms who have been rewarded for their efforts in acquiring, breeding or racing top stallion prospects,” said O'Callaghan. “Add that to these same farms constantly upgrading their broodmare bands and breeding good horses; it's a huge help to these stallions. Also, breeders at all levels are willing to support a wide range of farms if the farms provide alternative stallions for them. There is no one decisive factor–it is a positive blending of things that have combined to create this healthy spread of stallions in different farms.”

Everyone also seems to agree that a diversity of where stallions stand is good for the Thoroughbred business in general.

“I think it has to be positive for breeders,” O'Connor said. “It gives them a great choice in terms of locality and who they deal with. I think it's good for the industry too; it means there's genuine competition among the farms and that means that farms can re-invest in young stallions.”

“Any sort of competition is healthy,” added Richardson. “I think it's great we have a number of stallions being stood at different farms. It's important to the industry because there is a tendency to reduce the number of stallion farms; people are finding it more and more difficult to acquire new horses because of the competition. Horses like Dark Angel, for example, who were good 2-year-olds, are now standing and making a significant influence on the breed. It's healthy, it's good for business. It's important that we have a good spread of stallions, and horses in France like Le Havre are making a significant impact as well.”

O'Callaghan added, “In all industries it is healthy for consumers when there is a large choice of providers of a product. The stallion game is no different. Monopolies and cartels are not good for anyone and thankfully our industry offers a healthy choice of stallions, which can only be good for breeders.”