From the point of view of immediate practical application, the trouble with year-end sire statistics is that often the horses which you think look the best, and which the numbers confirm are the best, are all booked up by the time the statistics are published. We can't promise some of the sires we're reviewing today aren't also already full for 2014–in fact, we're sure a few of them are–but they all won't be. These are sires whose numbers we think all read pretty well but aren't all that expensive to breed to; their prices range from $2,500 for Horse Greeley (Kentucky) and Circular Quay (Florida) to €20,000 for Holy Roman Emperor in Ireland, and $25,000 for English Channel and Curlin in Kentucky.
The first group of nine are all sires with first foals 2005-2008, so they are 'mature' sires which all had 5-year-olds at least racing in 2013; in that first group of nine, four stand in Ireland, three in Kentucky, and one each in France and Maryland. Then we mention (again, in two cases), three F2009 sires which had their first 4-year-olds last year (two in Kentucky, Silent Name in Ontario), and first 5-year-olds in 2014; then another nine F2010 sires which had their first 3-year-olds last year, and now have their first 4-year-olds running. Of those nine, six stand in Kentucky and one each stands in Florida, New York, and France. We consider them in alphabetical order within each of the three groups.
'PROVEN' SIRES: 1st FOALS 2005-2008
Azamour: Winner of four Group 1 races on the racetrack, ranging from a mile to 12 furlongs. He's proving to be a consistently useful sire: his A Runner Index (ARI, 2.34) is well above 2.00; and he has a 1.58 Index for ABC Runners, again quite consistent by age (1.53 for 2-year-olds, 1.55 for 3-year-olds, and he goes up to 2.11 for 5-year-olds+). His only Group 1 winner, the 2012 G1 Prix de Diane winner Valyra, was unbeaten in three starts but unfortunately died on the gallops after her Diane win; he also has three Group 2 winners in his first four crops of 3-year-olds, through 2013. He's just a very useful sire for an E8,000 fee.
Bellamy Road: He won the 2005 GI Wood Memorial with a monster 120 Beyer figure, and, after his first crop of 2-year-olds included three black-type winners, including Grade II winner Position Limit, as a freshman sire in 2010, his 2012 crop numbered over 120 (including the top colt at Fasig July last year, at $420,000) after his three intervening crops (2009-2011) totaled fewer than 110 foals. He moved to WinStar for 2012, which won't hurt his chances either. He still managed three A Runners last year, and is positioned to get his name back in the news now, with three-figure crops in 2012 and 2013.
Clodovil: Winner of the 2003 G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulaines-French 2000 Guineas, by Danehill out of a Linamix mare, Clodovil retired to Rathsaker Stud in Ireland for the 2004 season. Agent Gill Richardson bought a filly from his first crop for just 19,000 guineas at Tattersalls. Named Nahoodh, she won the G2 Lowther S. for Jaber Abdullah and trainer Mick Channon, but by the time she won the G1 Falmouth S. at the Newmarket July meet as a 3-year-old, she'd been transferred to Mark Johnston for Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Sheikh Mohammed's son. Clodovil has always been under the radar commercially, but he's done well enough all the same–last year he had Gregorian, who won the G2 Hungerford S. for Princess Haya, trained by John Gosden.
First Samurai: Having had the recently-retired Grade I-winning 2-year-old Execeutiveprivilege in 2012, First Samurai had six A Runners in 2013, including the Grade I winning sprinter Justin Philip, now retired to Castleton Lyons, and the Grade II winner Last Gunfighter. Himself the winner of the GI Hopeful, the GI Champagne, and the GII Fountain of Youth, and from Giant's Causeway's first American crop, First Samurai's 2.27 ARI represents really good value. One of his 2013 A Runners, the now 5-year-old Lea, recently scored his second Grade III win when annexing the GII Hal's Hope S. at Gulfstream Park in his first start for trainer Bill Mott, and reportedly goes next for the GI Donn H.
Footsepsinthesand: He is from Giant's Causeway's first and only Irish crop, and won the G1 English 2000 Guineas in his third, which proved to be his final, lifetime start. He is only about average (1.10) for A Runners, but had 10 B Runners last year and must be just about the most useful E10,000 sire in Europe, with 78 ABC Runners so far (23 in 2013) in five crops through the end of 2013. A lot of people questioned his soundness because he only had three starts, but it seems like every time you turn around there's a 'Footsteps' showing good form in decent company, and they're plenty precocious, too, as his 1.77 ABC Index for 2-year-olds attests. He's deservedly getting very popular now.
Great Notion: The best horse from Elusive Quality's first crop in 2002 was the European 2-year-old Elusive City, who was out of a Dayjur mare. Great Notion, also out of a Dayjur mare, won the Southwest S. at Oaklawn Park but ran his best races at Saratoga at three in 2003, finishing second in both the GII Amsterdam S. and the GI King's Bishop. He's never had a crop as big as 40 foals, and his six crops of racing age through 2013 averaged fewer than 25. Havelock, from his second crop, has won four graded races and even had a trip to England last year, where he ran in the G1 Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot and the G1 July Cup at Newmarket. Great Notion is proving a very useful Maryland sire, and only stands for $3,500.
Holy Roman Emperor: A dual Group 1 winner at two who gave Teofilo a scare in the G1 Dewhurst S, in 2006, Holy Roman Emperor was controversially retired to stud the next spring when Coolmore's George Washington proved infertile. Dual Group 2 winner Banimpire was the best horse in his first crop, and his two subsequent crops have each included a Group 1 winner, shock G1 English 1000 Guineas winner Homecoming Queen and the French 2-year-old Group 1 winner, Morandi, both in 2012. In 2011 Holy Roman Emperor was the Leading Sire of 2-Year-Olds in Europe, his juveniles scoring in a series of sales races to grab the title from Acclamation, who had six group-winning 2-year-olds that year; Holy Roman Emperor had none. However, he is proving a very useful and prolific sire, with a 2.55 ABC Index for 2-year-olds, and 84 ABC Runners from four crops to race. They're precocious, they win races, and quite a few of them make money.
Motivator: The 2005 G1 Epsom Derby winner from Montjeu's first crop has not had an easy time of it at stud, starting slowly and then having to miss the entire 2010 covering season (so no 2-year-olds last year) due to a tendon injury. By the end of 2011, the year his first 4-year-olds ran, there was a suggestion that he might be a decent sire after all, though more of older horses and stayers–his first 4-year-olds registered a 3.11 ABC Index that year. In 2012 he broke through with his first Group 1 winner, Ridasiyna, who won the G1 Prix de l'Opera; then, in 2013 he became the Leading Sire in France, thanks to the unbeaten Treve, impressive winner of last year's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He's up to E15,000 this year–equal with Kendargent as the most expensive sire in France apart from Redoute's Choice–and is probably way past full, which fair enough considering he sired Europe's hands-down best horse of 2013.
Stroll: A Grade I and dual Grade II winner at nine furlongs on the grass, Stroll's third book, in 2007 (four foals) was so small that Claiborne agreed to lease him to Italy for two years. Boom: they came out running. But he was unavailable to Kentucky breeders until he returned to Claiborne in 2010. His 2011 crop of 52 2-year-olds included 12 winners and the earners of over $850,000 last year, including the dual Canadian Black-Type winning filly Skylander Girl, and three other B or C Runners. He's an absolute steal at $5,000.
F2009 SIRES: 1st 4-Year-Olds 2013, 1st 5-Year-Olds 2014
Discreet Cat: Unbeaten in his first six starts, including the GII Jerome H. (Beyer 115) and GI Cigar Mile (Beyer 116), as a 3-year-old, in 2006. He led all F2009 sires with 11 A Runners in 2013, including the very high-class Grade I-winning 3-year-old turf filly, Discreet Marq, and the 4-year-old GII Gulfstream Park H. winner, Discreet Dancer. With a 2.42 ARI he is beginning to look like he could be a bit more than a useful sire. Price and value are big considerations; who isn't looking for the horse who can throw really top-class horses while they are still selling for middle-range prices? Another year like he just had and Discreet Cat's $20,000 ticket for 2014 could look very good value.
English Channel: Click here to see our comments about English Channel and Curlin in last week's column.
Silent Name: We've also recently discussed him (click here), in the context of his 23 ABC Runners in 2013, which ranked him number four among F2009 sires in that category. Bred and raced by the Wertheimers and by Sunday Silence, he was a dual Grade II winner himself and is the sire of Silentio, a Grade II winner and a good third to Wise Dan in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile last year.
F2010 SIRES: 1st 3-Year-Olds 2013, 1st 4-Year-Olds 2014
Big Brown: The 2008 GI Kentucky Derby (Beyer 109) and GI Preakness winner. His stud fee has taken a major plunge, down to $10,000. He doesn't yet have any Grade I or Grade II winners, although the $1.3-million 2-year-old Darwin showed good form when defeating Gordon Lord Byron in a Group 3 in Ireland, and could progress further in 2014. What Big Brown has done, though, is sire 17 ABC Runners in 2013, third in this sire crop behind only Majestic Warrior and Curlin. It can go either way for sires with these kinds of figures at this juncture, but one fact for sure is he does have a high number of useful runners who could progress.
Circular Quay: Winner of the GI Hopeful S. at two and the GII Louisiana Derby and GII New Orleans H. in his next two seasons, he was a very decent racehorse who has made a very respectable start (one A Runner, six 3-year-old ABC Runners in 2013), and is standing for peanuts. He has to be worth a look for Florida breeders at that price. His 10 yearlings sold last year averaged $23,300, so he must be throwing reasonable-looking stock. He's got a good pedigree, too.
Curlin: Click here to see our comments about English Channel and Curlin in last week's column.
Frost Giant: Originally trained by Aidan O'Brien, and a dual Group 3 winner in Ireland before being sold to IEAH Stables, for whom his big moment of glory came when he won the GI Suburban H. as a 5-year-old in 2008. New York seems to like those ex-Coolmore relations to Giant's Causeway (think Freud, Giant's Causeway's full brother). Frost Giant is a very different type, but has made an equally sensational start in New York, with the eye-popping figures of 5.10 ARI and 3.57 ABC Index with his first crop of 3-year-olds in 2013. He's sure made an impressive start and he has a really impressive pedigree, too.
Horse Greeley: Winner of the 2006 GII Del Mar Futurity, he has sired two Grade III winners in his first crop, including Clearly Now, winner of the GIII Swale and GIII Bold Ruler S. last year, when he earned over $438,000. His second crop of 24 foals includes the three-time 2-year-old Canadian Black-Type winner, Go Greeley, who earned over $375,000. His yearlings last year averaged $46,580, including a filly which sold for $320,000 at the Fasig October Sale. Are you kidding? $2,500? What a bargain.
Majestic Warrior: We forget sometimes, when we talk about those big Coolmore numbers, that they can have big numbers and still be good. Yes, he's had a lot of foals, but he's also delivered the numbers, leading all 2013 second-crop sires with 19 ABC Runners, and he had a truly top-class filly in four-time Grade I winner Princess Sylmar, who would have been Champion 3-Year-Old Filly for sure if it hadn't have been for Beholder (who she did beat in the GI Kentucky Oaks). Winner of the GI Hopeful himself at two, out of the seven-furlong Grade I winner Dream Supreme, herself out of the seven-furlong Grade I winner Spinning Round, he's got a very classy pedigree, too.
Ready's Image: More Than Ready was the best horse sired by the legendary Argentine sire Southern Halo during his North American stint, and what was distinctive about More Than Ready was that he ran Beyer numbers of 105 twice as a 2-year-old in 1999, in the 5 1/2 furlong GIII Tremont S. and the six-furlong GIII Sanford S. at Saratoga; that is a stratospheric number for a 2-year-old at that time of year. Ready's Image duplicated More Than Ready's Beyer 105 in the Sanford, by then a Grade II, in 2007. He had only 35 foals in his first crop, but they include the good 2012 Canadian BTW 2-year-old Leinan, and last year's GIII Pucker Up S. winner I'm Already Sexy. He's standing for just $5,000 this year, and it's a sire line well proven for speed and precocity.
Run Away And Hide: Unbeaten in three starts at two, including the GII Saratoga Special and a son of the respected sire City Zip, a half-brother to Ghostzapper but by Carson City, Run Away And Hide has sired three Graded Stakes Winners in his first two crops totaling 85 foals. He has a sparkling 3.21 ARI (four A Runners last year) and a 1.92 ABC Index, and also sports an eye-catching 3.06 ABC Index for 2-year-olds. Interestingly inbred 4×3 to Blushing Groom, he could well be standing for more than his current $7,500 fee, and looks excellent value at that price.
Sageburg: With Scat Daddy, Teuflesberg (sire of 2012 GI Breeders; Cup Sprint winner Trinniberg), and Sageburg having made very good starts at stud, Johannesburg is proving rather more influential than might have been assumed. Sageburg's big win as a racehorse came in the 1850m. (9 1/4f.) G1 Prix d'Ispahan as a 4-year-old in 2008, but he jumped right out as a sire with Peace Burg, winner of her first three races as a 2-year-old in 2012, including the G3 Prix d'Aumale, and she came back at three, last year, to win the G2 Prix de Sandringham. Now with nine ABC Runners total, Sageburg's 1.67 ARI and 1.88 ABC Index look very respectable, which makes him another young French sire to keep an eye on.
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