Sires to Watch: Europe's New Fathers

In 2015 a strong group of colts retired to breeding sheds around Europe, giving breeders an embarrassment of riches to choose from. In 2016, breeders will learn if they made the right choices for their mares when foals by the new stallions arrive in foaling barns around the world.

Here are only some of the popular new stallions in Europe who will be looking to prove their worth in the coming months and years as their first foals are born, hit the sales ring and ultimately the race track in 2018 and beyond.

A full brother to three-time Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Goldikova, Anodin (Anabaa) nearly won his own Mile in 2014 when finishing second to Karakontie (Bernstein). Anodin only crossed the line first in a Group 3 event but he was second or third in five Group or Grade 1 events in his career in three different countries. In 2016, Anodin will stand for €7,500 (approx. $8,168US/£5,731) in France for the second consecutive year.

Touted as one of the best horses to ever come through Coolmore’s Ballydoyle training center, Australia is bred to be a sire. The Galileo son is out of champion mare Ouija Board and won both the Group 1 British and Irish Derbys, the Group 1 Juddmonte International and finishing second in the Group 1 QIPCO 2,000 Guineas and Group 1 Irish Champions Stakes. Australia was bred to 178 mares in 2015 at a fee of €50,000 (approx. $54,432US/£38,206) and will stand for the same price in 2016.

A group stakes winner in France, Australia and Hong Kong and Group 1-placed in England, Dunaden (Nicobar) provided breeders with an internationally proven racehorse in 2015. Dunaden won the 2011 Group 1 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase, Group 1 Emirates Melbourne Cup and 2012 Group 1 BMW Caulfield Cup during his career in addition to finishing second in the Group 1 Investec Coronation Cup and Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in 2014. Dunaden covered 99 mares in 2015 at a fee of £3,000 (approx. $4,274US/€3,926) with 62 percent of the mares winning at least one race. He stands for the same fee in 2016.

Video courtesy of Tomjamo72

Named Europe’s Cartier Horse of the Year in addition to being named champion 3-year-old colt in 2014, Kingman (Invincible Spirit) won both his races at two before coming alive at three. The bay won four Group 1s include the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas, Group 1 P. Fresnay le Buffard Jacques Le Marois and Group 1 St. James Palace against some of the best milers on the track at the time in addition to finishing second in the Group 1 QIPCO 2,000 Guineas. Out of a Group 1 winning half-sister to champion Oasis Dream (Green Desert) and from the family of Beat Hollow (Sadler’s Wells), Kingman had the full support of Juddmonte behind him with Frankel’s dam Kind (Danehill) leading the 143 mares he bred last year at a fee of £55,000 (approx. $78,356US/€71,976), the same he’ll be at in 2016.

The busiest stallion in Europe in 2015, Cartier champion stayer Leading Light (Montjeu) was added to Coolmore’s National Hunt roster where he bred 320 mares at a fee of €4,500 (approx. $4,898US/£3,438). Leading Light proved to be a superb route horse, breaking his maiden at nine furlongs in Oct. of his 2-year-old year and following that up with two 10 furlong victories before moving up to longer distance races. Leading Light won Group 1 races at 14.5 furlongs (the Ladbrokes St. Leger), 20 furlongs (the Ascot Gold Cup) and finishing second in a 14 furlong Group 1 (the Palmerstown House Estate Irish St. Leger), cementing himself a spot on the National Hunt roster. In 2016, Leading Light will be standing for the same fee as 2015.

While Morpheus (Oasis Dream) was the black sheep of Kind’s sons in his racing career, never running in a group stakes race, that didn’t stop breeders to flocking to Frankel’s half-brother in 2015. The full brother to multiple Grade 3-placed Joyeuse attracted 142 mares in his first season at stud in Ireland at a fee of €6,000 (approx. $6,531US/£4,584) with 18 of them at least placing in stakes races. In 2016, Morpheus has a slight fee drop to €5,000 (approx. $5,443US/£3,820).

Morpheus

A Group 2 winner at 4, Mukhadram (Shamardal) beat horses like Grade 1 winner Wigmore Hall (High Chaparral) and U.S. champion Main Sequence (Aldebaran) that year while finishing close behind Al Kazeem (Dubawi) in two Group 1 races. But 2014 was the year Mukhadram finally got that elusive Group 1 win, beating Trading Leather (Teofilo) in the Coral Eclipse Stakes after finishing second to African Story (Pivotal) in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup. A month later, he added another Group 1 placing to his resume when finishing third in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes to Taghrooda (Sea the Stars). In 2015 he bred 118 mares at a fee of £7,000 (approx. $78,356US/€9,160), the same fee he stands for in 2016.

A Group/Graded stakes winner in Europe and the United States No Nay Never looks like he’s the most likely successor to his sire Scat Daddy, who died at the end of 2015. No Nay Never was named champion 2-year-old in France in 2013 after winning the Group 1 Darley Prix Morney, the same year he won the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot. Based in the United States throughout his career, No Nay Never tried conventional dirt for the first time at Gulfstream Park in the Group 2 Swale Stakes in his 3-year-old debut, finishing second. After a lengthy break, he won his first graded stakes in the country when taking the Grade 3 Keeneland Woodford Stakes as a prep for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, where he finished second to Bobby’s Kitten (Kitten’s Joy). No Nay Never covered 146 mares at a fee of €20,000 (approx. $21,772US/£15,282) in 2015 with his fee dropping to €17,500 (approx. $19,051US/£13,372) in 2016.

No Nay Never

A two-time champion, Olympic Glory (Choisir) won four Group 1 races in his three-year career with those wins spread between France and England. Also included on his resume were wins in three other group stakes affairs for eight victories in 15 starts and five other on-the-board finishes, including three Group 1 races for over  €1.85-million ($2-million/£1.4-million) in earnings. He will be standing for €15,000 (approx. $16,329US/£11,462) in 2016.

The 2013 Group 1 Investec Derby winner, Ruler of the World (Galileo) won four of his 11 starts while finishing on-the-board in two others, including a third place finish in the Group 1 QIPCO Champion Stakes. In addition to the Derby, Ruler of the World won a Group 3 during his 3-year-old season and added a Group 2 win to his resume as a 4-year-old when winning the Qatar Prix Foy in France, defeating Flintshire (Dansili) in the process. A breeding shed injury interrupted Ruler of the World’s first season at stud, ultimately leading to him covering 80 mares at a stud fee of €15,000 (approx. $16,329US/£11,462) but he has fully recovered and will be standing for €10,000 (approx. $10,886US/£7,641) this year.

A dual champion in Germany, Sea the Moon (Sea the Stars) was an impressive winner of the Group 1 IDEE Deutsches Derby (German Derby) in 2014 in addition to two other group stakes races in his five race career cut short by injury. Sea the Moon was undefeated until his final start when he finished second in a Group 1 while reinjuring himself, which forced him out of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and into retirement. Standing in England, Sea the Moon stood for €15,000 (approx. $16,329US/£11,462) in 2015 and covered 132 mares. He will be standing for the same fee in 2016.

Attracting one of the best books of any of the new stallions in 2015 of the 148 mares Slade Power (Dutch Art) bred, 91 are stakes winners or daughters, dams or siblings of stakes winners. Slade Power won two listed stakes races at three but at four and five took over the European sprinting scene when winning the Group 1 Darley July Cup, the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes, the Group 2 QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes and two group 3 events in addition to placing in three other group stakes events. Standing at Darley Stud’s Kildangan Stud in Ireland, the 2014 champion sprinter stood for €20,000 (approx. $21,772US/£15,282) in 2015 and returns at that fee in 2016.

Named Europe’s joint champion 3-year-old colt and 3-year-old miler in 2013, Toronado is a four time group stakes winner by High Chaparral. The stallion won some of the most prestigious Group 1 races in his career, including the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot against Verrazano (More Than Ready) and Anodin and the 2013 QIPCO Sussex Stakes against Dawn Approach (New Approach) and Declaration of War (War Front). Toronado finished on-the-board in four other races, including three Group 1 races to retire at a stud fee of £15,000 (approx. $21,370US/€19,630). Attracting 152 mares in 2015, Toronado returns for the same fee in 2016.