first-season sires

Coolmore's dual Group 1-winning juvenile Blackbeard is the 6/5 favourite with Fitzdares to be crowned Britain and Ireland's leading first-season sire by number of winners in 2026, ahead of Shadwell's Minzaal at 7/4. Fitzdares launched its market on Tuesday, four days out from the Brocklesby Stakes at Doncaster, the first two-year-old race of the year in Britain. Whilst both Blackbeard and Minzaal are without a representative among the 22 entries published on Monday, it's likely to be just a matter of time before their two-year-olds start to appear in large...

When it comes to the 2025 crop of first-season sires in Europe, there's one stallion who is now operating in truly rarefied air, fittingly so for a horse going by the name of Starman. With 16 individual winners on the board in Europe, the son of Dutch Art is currently six clear of Nando Parrado and eight clear of A'Ali, with Palace Pier, Space Blues and Supremacy then locked in a three-way tie for fourth with seven winners apiece. Lucky Vega has six, while Ubettabelieveit and Victor Ludorum each have...

The colt crowned Cartier Horse of the Year in 2021 when he retired as a five-time Group 1 winner; an elite miler who also won five races at the top level, notably at Royal Ascot in both 2020 and 2021; and the GI Breeders' Cup Mile hero of 2021, speedy enough to win the previous year's G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest over six and a half furlongs. Those three summations alone should give some idea of the calibre of racehorse we're dealing with when it comes to the 2025 crop...

By Brian Sheerin and Emma Berry   After a hectic few months perusing this year's foal and yearling crops, we asked the buyers to share their thoughts on the young stallions with first foals and yearlings.  Dermot Farrington, agent: "If you look at the list of people who have bought yearlings and foals by Advertise, it's a long time since a young stallion has attracted the who's who of the bloodstock world, and that's exactly what he has done. Whether it be yearlings to breeze, yearlings to race or foals...

The insatiable demand for foals was evident in the figures recorded at Goffs last week with turnover rising 16% to €29,561,000 and the average climbing 16% to €40,110. At the top end of the market, Kingman (GB) dominated with three foals by the Juddmonte-based stallion selling for a combined €1,540,000 and one of Europe's leading pinhookers Philipp Stauffenberg signing for the €550,000 top lot by the sire.  Tally-Ho Stud may be best known for being sellers but they pipped Stauffenberg for the biggest spenders title by signing for 19 foals...

The mantra of breeding the best to the best can really only be followed by those with access to mares classy enough to be courted by the world's elite stallions. And if you're fortunate enough to be in that bracket, then sending your Oaks winner to a Derby winner could be deemed an obvious place to start.  We lost the most influential Derby winner of the modern era almost a year ago but it will be a while before Galileo (Ire) retreats too far back in pedigrees. In his first...

The Coolmore Stud sire Sioux Nation (Scat Daddy), who won the G1 Phoenix S. at two, has been made the 1-2 favourite in the Leading First-Season Sire race by Fitzdares. Close behind him in the market is the 9-4 shot and G1 Flying Five S. victor Havana Grey (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}), who stands at Whitsbury Manor Stud. Rounding out the top three chances is fellow Coolmore Stud stallion and Classic winner Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) at 6-1. Below are the stallions listed by Fitzdares: Sioux Nation at...

It was extremely unlikely that any first-season sire this year would even get close to the record-breaking 56 winners for Mehmas (Ire) in 2020. That feat was made all the more remarkable by the fact that the start of the Flat season was delayed for several months by the pandemic-induced shutdown of racing. Leaving this huge tally aside, in any other year 35 first-crop winners at a strike-rate of 40% would be more than respectable, and it is this number, and £788,531 in progeny earnings in 2021, that sees Mehmas's...

When it comes to the freshman sires, I should start by saying I have already put my reputation on the line by purchasing a Caravaggio (out of a Galileo {Ire} mare) for $200,000 at Keeneland. With that kind of price tag it goes without saying that I really loved the horse and he was the Caravaggio that I wanted, so I'm confident he will make an impact when he hits the track this season. The Profitable (Ire)s looked racy and they sold very well, particularly for a sire that started...

Agent Matt Coleman of Stroud Coleman Bloodstock has had plenty of success buying decent 2-year-olds from the breeze-up sales, such as G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S. winner Sands Of Mali (Fr) (Panis) and G2 Norfolk S. winner Prince Of Lir (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). He gave us his view on what we might expect from the first runners for this year's freshman sires. Coleman said, "I guess Churchill (Ire) is the headline act of the first-season sires and I have heard some good words on his stock from Ireland. He...

G1 St James's Palace S. winner Without Parole (GB) (Frankel {GB}-Without You Babe, by Lemon Drop Kid) will stand for £10,000 during his debut season at Newsells Park Stud in 2021. He enters stud alongside Nathaniel (Ire), the sire of the great Enable (GB) as well as G1 Prix de Diane winner Channel (Ire) and G1 Premio Lydia Tesio scorer God Given (GB). Nathaniel will stand for £15,000 next year, down from £25,000 the last two seasons. Newsells Park Stud's General Manager Julian Dollar said, "Nathaniel's progeny have enjoyed another...

Multiple Group 1 winner Circus Maximus (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}-Duntle {Ire}, by Danehill Dancer {Ire}) will stand at Coolmore Stud in Ireland next year for €20,000. The French highweight is under consideration for the Longines Hong Kong International Races in December for the Coolmore partners and Flaxman Holdings. The winner of the G1 St. James's Palace S. and second in the G1 Sussex S. in the summer of his 3-year-old year, the Niarchos Family's Flaxman homebred added another Group 1 win in the Prix du Moulin that September prior to a...