Nic Doggett analyses the top five first-season sires with the help of Richard Fahey and Weatherbys' Alan Mosley.
Bolger ace continuing his form in the paddock
Nic Doggett analyses the top five first-season sires with the help of Richard Fahey and Weatherbys' Alan Mosley.
Richard Fahey trained 75 two-year-old winners in 2010, including the Group One Grand Criterium winner Wootton Bassett. You can follow him on twitter @RichardFahey
Alan Mosley is a bloodstock analyst for Weatherbys and you can follow his extensive tweets on all bloodstock matters @Bloodstock_Al
DARK ANGEL
Trained by Barry Hills, the grey now stands at Morristown Lattin Stud in Co. Kildare for a fee of 7000 Euros.
Even in the current economic climate that is likely to increase in 2012 as to date his 37 progeny who have made the racecourse have recorded 17 wins from 103 runs and he leads the list of first-season sires.
Last-year's leading first season sire Iffraaj now commands a fee of 15,000 Euros (up from 6000 the previous year), although that might be slightly misleading as he did break Invincible Spirit's record of 35 freshman winners.
On the racetrack Dark Angel was an out-and-out sprinter, winning the Mill Reef and the Middle Park Stakes in his only season on the racetrack, although the quality of both races has been open to question.
He was retired after a Dewhurst disappointment which drew his two-year-old season to a close, with the feeling that he would not be an obvious horse to train on into his second year of racing, as joint-owner Catherine Corbett explained: "The sale came through his trainer, Barry Hills, who was approached by the stud.
"He wouldn't have run in a Classic next year. It was felt he would be a six-furlong specialist and it's very hard for a three-year-old who has won a Group One so selling him wasn't really a wrench."
One of the best of his crop so far is B Fifty Two who won twice before filling sixth behind Power in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, after which his trainer John Hills said: "He's a lovely horse and so laid back. He only does absolutely what he has to and no more. He has the speed for five although I think six is better."
Clive Cox's Lethal Force was actually ahead of him at Ascot in fourth place, whilst Michael Mulvany's Tough As Nails bumped into Power when second to him at the Curragh in May.
However the most prolific of Dark Angel's progeny so far is Lily's Angel who has won four of her six starts so far, including the Listed Empress Stakes at Newmarket.
Her trainer Richard Fahey has described her as "quite laid back mentally", confirming the impression that Dark Angel's progeny appear to be ideal for their first season of racing when rivals may lose their races through immaturity.
However the worry must be that the long-term value of this bloodline will be questionable if his progeny do not train on from two to three years of age, and it will take several years before the family is considered a safe long-term breeding investment.
Richard Fahey comment:
We're very keen on him. He's a sire we took to and bought quite a few. Gabriel and Lily's Angel are both by him and I have no complaints. He's in the right place with Gay O 'Callaghan to really develop too.
Alan Mosley comment:
From a speedy female line and no great surprise to see him stealing a march on his rivals with his grandam being a sprinting stakes winner. Looks set for a successful stud career.
DUTCH ART
Unbeaten as a two-year-old, Peter Chapple-Hyam's colt was unable to add to that tally in his second season but did arguably build on his juvenile form with placed efforts in the 2000 Guineas, the July Cup and the Prix Maurice De Gheest.
He stands at Newmarket's Cheveley Park Stud for a fee of £5000, and is in good company alongside Medicean, Kyllachy and star turn Pivotal.
The son of the aforementioned Medicean has made a very quick start to his career at stud, with 13 wins from 64 runs, at a strike-rate of 20%. Even more impressively 39% of his stock to have raced have found the winners' enclosure.
For a champion two-year-old it's perhaps no surprise that he has started with alacrity, and he looks to have passed on his looks and power to his progeny.
Already he has produced a Listed winner in the form of the unbeaten Miss Work Of Art, and owner Mel Roberts is keen to take every precaution in establishing whether she will make up into a possible Guineas contender, explaining: "We need to identify if she is just precocious or one who could really progress, and if she falls into the latter category there would be other options."
Also proven at Listed level, albeit yet to win in the grade, is Alan McCabe's Caspar Netscher. He was third in the Windsor Castle Stakes and like Miss Work Of Art, is another first-time-out winner.
A similar percentage of his yearlings to Dark Angel were sold when offered up at the sales, albeit from a lower number, however interestingly there was a significantly higher percentage of colts purchased compared to fillies, albeit at lesser amounts.
Richard Fahey comment:
You're asking the right man here. Miss Work Of Art is by him, we haven't got that many of them, but a nice filly of ours called Lady's First is another and she runs at Newmarket on Saturday. We're quite excited by her too and the sire has made a great start. They're great to train.
Alan Mosley comment:
Like Dark Angel his grandam is a sprinting stakes winner and he looks prime for a rise in his stud fee for next season- his 12 winners so far, which include unbeaten Listed winner Miss Work Of Art and stakes-placed Caspar Netscher and Robert Le Diable, have come from only 26 runners, considerably less than his closest rivals.
EXCELLENT ART
The Coolmore sire has had lesser representation on the track, but already his progeny have produced seven victories on the track, from just 35 attempts.
Arguably because of where he stands, following in the footsteps of Montjeu, Galileo and High Chaparral, as well as coming from the successful family of Chief's Crown, it meant that the average price of his yearlings was much higher than either of those of Dutch Art or Dark Angel.
Of course this was also related to his exploits on the track, winning the Mill Reef in his first season, before landing the St James's Palace Stakes at three, as well as finishing runner-up in the Sussex Stakes, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Mile.
That American effort, as well as his solid final run in the Hong Kong Mile confirmed his appeal as a global breeding proposition, however the high reserve prices of the yearling despatched to the sales ensured that a significantly lesser percentage were sold than either the respective consignments of Dutch Art or Dark Angel.
Like many in the current economic climate, his stud fee has been reduced from a starting 25,000 Euros to just 10,000 Euros, an average figure for a first season sire.
A son of Pivotal, who is like Dutch Art's sire Medicean a Cheveley Park stallion, Excellent Art has made a similarly quick start to his stud career, and the best of his progeny to hit the racetrack so far is the Group Three winner Experience.
David Wachman's filly has already won on a variety of goings, however her trainer feels that she will be seen to best effect when granted very quick ground, explaining: "Like a lot of Excellent Arts she has plenty of speed and would like better ground."
However as well as speed, Excellent Art, on first inspection of the statistics, appears to have imparted adaptability to his progeny.He was a winner on ground ranging from heavy to good-to-firm, and his offspring have followed in his footsteps.
However it might be worth following Excellent Arts when there is rain around, as strike-rates of 40% on soft ground and 33% on good ground, albeit from limited evidence, seem to suggest that the Pivotal side of the family bloodline is strong.
Richard Fahey comment:
They seem to be taking a bit of time. We have a few of them but I think they're seven furlong or mile horses. Their temperament is good and he will come good before the year is out. I have two fillies and a colt by him and they'll definitely all win but they're just taking time to come together and want a trip.
Alan Mosley comment:
Already represented by stakes progeny and has made a very pleasing start with his first batch of runners.
RED CLUBS
A different model to most of his fellow first-season sires, in that he raced on into his fourth year and was only retired after a disappointing send-off in the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp, a race which he finished last of 13, with Dutch Art seven places ahead of him.
Like Dark Angel he was trained by Barry Hills, winning just six of his 25 races, and like Dark Angel was not viewed as an obvious contender for a stud career, and perhaps furthermore, a successful stud career.
Albeit it an (irregular) Group Two and Three winner in his formative years, it wasn't until he was four that he gained an elusive Group One win, landing the Sprint Cup at Haydock which led to him surprisingly being named the 2007 Cartier Champion European Sprinter and effectively securing a future career as a stallion in the process.
Unfortunately his career at stud has been cut short by his premature death, but when he stood in Europe it was at the Co Westmeath Tally-Ho Stud, whilst well-established, one of the more understated and lower profile stud operations, where he commanded a fee of just 6500 Euros.
The stud have had success with Kodiac and Chineur, two underrated sires, especially the former who has had success as a sire at the highest level all over the globe, especially in Australia.
And it was in Australasia that Red Clubs also acted as a shuttle stallion, with the Stoney Bridge Stud in New Zealand being his former second base.
Timeform once described him as a "strong, well-made colt-a real powerhouse-with a sharp, fluent action....", and it was this aspect of speed, along with the international success of his sire Red Ransom, which initiated the shuttle deal, where he was at first commanding a fee of Aus$15,000.
"We have been searching for a brilliant speed sire prospect for some time and Red Clubs ticks all the boxes - performance, pedigree, physique and commercial appeal", stated Stoney Bridge Manager Peter Jenkins in 2008.
"To have secured a current European Champion who is by a stallion held in extremely high regard in Australasia is just fantastic. He ran creditably every time he stepped out over a 3 year span in top company and possessed that powerful acceleration good judges look for in a quality sprinter."
Despite this Antipodean interest, given his less attractive profile than many of his rival British first-season sires, it was no real shock that his first batch of yearlings achieved the lowest average of the five sires who lead the current standings.
However the fact that the highest amount paid for a Red Clubs was 130,000 Euros, a quite tidy sum, along with 80% of those consigned to the sales being sold, suggests that there was still enough interest in those first yearlings, and enough people prepared to try and grab an unfashionable bargain.
It should be noted though that the strike-rate of his progeny is very modest, with just 6% of 96 runs resulting in victories, and connections will hope that his progeny progress with time.
Although siring the San Siro Group Three winner Vedelago, the hope will be that Coventry Stakes eighth Jack Who's He or Albany Stakes third Illaunglass can build on those promising runs and reproduce the former's continental success.
Encouragingly for those with Red Clubs yet to make the track, David Evans described Jack Who's He as "... a big baby and he'll get better as he goes along," whilst Jeremy Noseda said: "She is a big immature filly and this is early enough for her," following Illaunglass's debut success in June.
Richard Fahey comment:
Not a sire I really took to that much but I have two by him, a colt that will definitely win and a backward filly who is just about ready to run.
Alan Mosley comment:
Being out of a stakes-winning juvenile, it's no surprise that he has made a very quick start in the race to become leading first-season sire. Sadly no longer with us.
TEOFILO
Like Dark Angel, and another high-profile example Zebedee, he didn't race into his second season.
However Teofilo's story was different, as he had a setback in the spring of his three-year-old campaign and was retired after an unsatisfactory scan, sadly never racing at the age of three.
The son of Galileo won all five starts, all over seven furlongs, with his racing career finishing with Group One victories in the National and Dewhurst Stakes.
A real success for Jim Bolger, who bred the 2006 Champion Two-year-old, the son of Galileo is still owned by Bolger but stands at Sheikh Mohammed's Darley base in Ireland, the Kildangan Stud.
Along with the acquisition of New Approach, another son of a Coolmore stallion, the move appears to have ensured that Sheikh Mohammed's self-imposed ban on breeding along the Coolmore bloodlines has come to a conclusion.
His progeny have impressed at the sales, no real surprise for a horse bred on the same cross as Frankel and once described by Bolger as "...so good mentally that there wouldn't appear to be any down side to him. To use a cliche he ticks all the boxes; he has the looks, the pedigree and the performances. He's the best colt I've had and the best-looking one."
Accordingly his first crop has included a vast number of expensive lots including a 400,000 Euros half-sister to French Derby winner Blue Canari picked up by Sir Robert Ogden.
Although not consigned in the same sort of numbers as some of the other, more accessible sires, his progeny have sold well, with a higher than average 89% of those offered being sold, at a very healthy average of 87,000 Euros.
Teolane has achieved the most of his stock to have made the track so far and was described by Bolger as a filly who "could be anything". She won the Listed Coolmore Stud EBF Sprint Stakes at Naas over six furlongs, and is considered much better than a recent flop in the Albany Stakes.
Barry Hills' Coventry tenth Mezmaar is out of a juvenile winner, hence perhaps more precocity than some of his siblings.
Debut winners such as Parish Hall (described by Bolger as "a great moving colt and one with a future") and John Lightbody (Mark Johnston: "He has always worked incredibly well"), would appear to suggest that Teofilo's own quick start will be mirrored in those progeny who are stoutly bred on the dam's side.
Richard Fahey comment:
We were mad keen to buy his horses in the autumn but couldn't afford them. We did get one filly but she's bred to be a mile-and-a-half filly next year. Of all the first-season sires he was the one I wanted at the sales but we couldn't get them. They had a bit of quality, scope and size about them. I wouldn't expect them to run until later in the season but I was mad keen on his progeny and it will be interesting to see how they get on.
Alan Mosley comment:
The son of Galileo has made a promising start to his stud career despite lacking the precocity in his pedigree of his chief rivals (his dam's only win came in a listed contest over a mile at three years of age).
In terms of sheer number of juvenile winners he'll sire it's questionable whether he'll have the opportunities compared to his rivals, however as he enters the second half of the season he's almost certain to add to Teolane's one stakes success.
SIRES TO KEEP AN EYE ON:
Alan Mosley comment:
Others to have made a pleasing start with their first runners include Jeremy, who has already been represented by stakes progeny, whilst two Derby winners, Sir Percy and Lawman must be delighting their respective studs with the starts they've made.
The fact that Sir Percy's son Percy Jackson has already won two juvenile heats despite being stoutly bred (he's out of a Hernando mare) shows distinct promise, whilst Lawman numbers Chesham Stakes runner-up Fort Bastion amongst his early runners.
Finally, another sire that has caught the eye is once Bearstone Stud resident and now Australian-based Vital Equine. His former trainer Eoghan O'Neill has trained two of his progeny to victories from his French base including Ruby's Day, conqueror of subsequent Prix du Bois (Gr3) winner Family One at Chantilly before running with credit in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot. It could prove to be regretful for domestic breeders that this son of Danetime was sold before his progeny had a chance to prove themselves on the track.
