Sires to Watch: Young Stallions in Europe
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| Born to Sea (Gilltown Stud photo) |
Stallions young and old will again be trying to catch the attention of owners and breeders by producing as many winners as possible during the year but younger stallions still have something to prove as they try to establish themselves as “go-to” sires in the years to come.
Here are six young stallions standing Europe – from Ireland
to Turkey (a country that sits in both Europe and Asia) – with a few crops on
the track who are worth keeping an eye on in 2017.
The most obvious stallion to keep an eye on this year is Frankel (Galileo). The undefeated
champion racehorse had many hopes sitting on his shoulders when his first
runners hit the track and he didn’t disappoint. Six of his runners won group
stakes races, including Group 1 winner and Japanese champion Soul Stirring, and one other was
multiple stakes placed Cunco. Frankel seemed to get better with age so there’s
no reason his foals won’t as well and he still has enough well-bred runners who
haven’t yet started to make 2017 an even better year than 2016.
SOUL STIRRING'S GROUP 1 WIN
With his first crop just turning five this year, Lope de Vega’s (Shamardal) 44 stakes performers
and 14 group winners is impressive. The Giant’s Causeway grandson’s numbers
should only get better as his later crops – and probably better bred – crops start
hitting the track. Granted that first post-first crop rush won’t
hit the track until 2018. But with Lope de Vega’s early success so far,
including multiple classic placed horses I don’t expect him to have a quiet
year by any stretch of the imagination. He has 71 2-year-olds, which isn’t as
many as some of his counterparts but more than enough to make the year a
memorable one.
Mastercraftsman (Danehill
Dancer) came out on fire with his first few crops, including multiple classic
winners and 2017 is the year we’ll see the benefit those runners had on his
books. Coolmore has advertised that the first of his best bred crops will be
hitting the track this year so it could be his best year yet. His
runners seem to be better at three than two so it could be a case of getting ahead
of myself by putting him on the list of sires to watch this year, but it’s not
hard to imagine that these better bred 2-year-olds may have a little more
precociousness, which makes for an interesting thought when he has had
2-year-olds with stakes form in his earlier crops.
MASTERCRAFTSMAN'S THE GREY GATSBY WINNING THE PRIX DU JOCKEY CLUB
Mayson (Invincible
Spirit) had 19 winners last year with his first 2-year-olds including seven
stakes horses and three listed stakes winners. That list includes Group 2
placed Global Applause and Group 3 placed Rosebride. Mayson himself got better
with age, getting his Group 1 win at four so it has to be thought his runners
will as well. He did better with his runners and number of wins last year than
some highly anticipated horses so it will be interesting to see if he can carry
on that success into the new year. With a large group of horses who were placed
as 2-year-olds but didn’t quite hit the winner’s enclosure, it won’t be a
surprise to see his win numbers go up, and him get his first group winner, as
the season starts rolling.
A Turkey-based stallion, Native Khan (Azamour) is a bit harder to follow than other young
stallions but that didn’t keep him from catching the eye with his first crop’s
success. From the stallion’s 20 starters last year as 2-year-olds, 15 won
races. He has 20 2-year-olds this year according to the Jockey Club of Turkey and
20 3-year-olds who have yet to start as well. While his impressive 75 percent
strike rate will almost certainly fall as more of these horses hit the track,
if his first time starters and current maidens show the same talent as his
first winners Turkey may have a breed changing sire on its hands.
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