Sires To Watch: Europe's First Crop Stallions

Frankly Speaking, a 2-year-old colt by Frankel
Every spring as racing ramps up in the Northern Hemisphere, trainers prepare 2-year-olds for their new careers as racehorses. For some of those 2-year-olds, they aren’t just carrying the hopes of what they may become on their backs, they are also carrying the hopes of breeders who took a chance on their sires in their first year at stud. 

This year, expectations will be high for those first-crop sires with a lot of big names having their foals hit the track. Here are five stallions in Europe who we may see battling it out at the top of the First-Crop Sire list in the coming months.

One of two Juddmonte stallions with first foals hitting the track this year, Bated Breath (Dansili) is a Group 2 winning half-brother to Group 1 winner Cityscape (Selkirk). As normal for Juddmonte horses, he has family class behind him for generations with his fourth dam also the dam of champion Xaar (Zafonic). Bated Breath didn’t hit the track until he was three and didn’t win his first stakes race until he was four but as a sprinter, his foals who make it to the track early should have some early speed with Bated Breath winning stakes races at five and six furlongs. He received some of the nicest families in the stud book in his first year at stud, headlined by champion Kingman’s (Invincible Spirit) dam in 2013 and according to Weatherbys, he has 104 2-year-olds in 2016. Bated Breath stands for £10,000 (approx. €12,835/$14,462) at Banstead Manor Stud in England.

Blood doesn’t get much more royal than that which runs through Born to Sea’s veins. Born to Sea is the final foal out of the great Urban Sea (Miswaki) and by ultra hot sire Invincible Spirit (Green Desert). While he didn’t live up to what some of his siblings did on the track, he was good enough to earn a classic race placing in 2012. Born to Sea started his career at Rathasker Stud before moving to Gilltown Stud to stand beside his half-brother Sea the Stars (Cape Cross) last year. Nearly every one of Urban Sea’s foals has produced stakes horses, both sons and daughters, and Born to Sea shouldn’t be any different. He has 87 2-year-olds this year and stands for €10,000 (approx. £7,791/$11,268) in Ireland.

You can never count out Coolmore freshman stallions and Excelebration (Exceed and Excel) is no exception. Well received at European sales as yearlings, Excelebration’s 103 2-year-olds have the advantage of their sire being precocious at two and winning two of his three starts that year. Excelebration also got better with age, named champion 3-year-old in Germany in 2011 and champion older horse in Ireland in 2012. Excelebration’s biggest problem on the track was a horse named Frankel (Galileo), who he faced five times with four seconds and one third. Excelebration stands for €15,000 (approx. £11,684/$16,902) at Coolmore in Ireland.
Andariel, a 2-year-old filly by Excelebration
Arguably the most anticipated 2-year-olds in the world to hit the track this year are those by the above-mentioned, undefeated Frankel. A perfect 14-for-14 in his career, including 10 Group 1 events, Frankel was a champion every year he raced. Predictably, Frankel had luck in the sales ring with his first crop and his 2-year-olds are some of the bluest of blue bloods. According to Racing Post, The mares he bred in 2013 included 38 Group or Grade 1 winners, 26 dams of Group or Grade 1 winners and 92 stakes horses with 52 dams of stakes winners. According to Weatherbys, Frankel has 111 2-year-olds ready to hit the track. Frankel stands for £125,000 (approx. €160,467/$180,815) at Banstead Manor Stud in England.

Group 2 winner Harbour Watch (Acclamation) was extremely popular in his first season at stud, enough so that he has 131 2-year-olds this year. He was undefeated in his three career starts at two and is the half-brother to a multiple South African Group 1 winner in the Rock of Gibraltar filly Europa Point. Under his third dam, there are six champions including U.S. champion Timber Country (Woodman) and European champion Dubai Millennium. Harbour Watch’s early success bodes well for his 2-year-olds while his foaling numbers give him an advantage in the 2-year-old sire rankings. He stands at Tweenhills in England for a stud fee of £7,500 (approx. €9,619/$10,848).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Impact of El Prado

Image
When El Prado (Sadler’s Wells) was imported to the United States after being purchased from Coolmore by Frank Stronach in the early 1990s, very few breeders were willing to give El Prado a shot.  "No one wanted a son of Sadler’s Wells in America,” Dermot Carty, who bought the horse for Stronach, told Blood-Horse when the stallion died. “Everyone saw him as just a grass horse, but now he’s a broodmare sire, a sire of sires, and he’s made history. It was a gamble … to buy a son of Sadler’s Wells was a major move, but it paid off." But over 20 years later, El Prado has made a major impact on the breed in North America. El Prado started his breeding career at Airdrie Stud in Kentucky for Stronach, who didn’t have a stallion operation at the time. Within a few years, Stronach’s opened up Adena Springs stallion facility and El Prado became one of the cornerstones of the operation.   Video courtesy of Thoroughbred Horses in Kentucky "He put us on the map,&q
Read more

North America's Champion Second-Crop Sire: Munnings

Image
Munnings When Coolmore’s Demi O’Byrne paid $1.7-million for Munnings as an early 2-year-old, expectation were high for the chestnut son of Speightstown. After winning three graded stakes races and finishing on the board in six others, Munnings retired to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud for $12,500 (approx. €11,523/£8,792) in 2011. That crop produced 109 live foals with 53 of those making it to the track as 2-year-olds. Twenty-seven of those first 2-year-olds went to the winner’s circle with three stakes winners and one graded stakes winner in 2014, allowing Munnings to finish fourth by earnings behind Quality Road (Elusive Quality) on the Leading First-Crop Sires list.  Munnings also finished second behind fellow Ashford Stud Lookin at Lucky (Smart Strike) by winners and stakes winners (Super Saver (Maria’s Mon) tied with Lookin at Lucky at the top of the stakes winners list). But with 108 runners representing the stallion in 2015, the odds swung in his favor. Munnings had 32
Read more

Bargain Sire: Tale of the Cat

Image
Tale of the Cat in 2014 A Grade 2 winner at seven furlongs and Grade 1 placed at nine furlongs, Tale of the Cat (Storm Cat) was more than useful as a racehorse. His successful racing career turned out to be a foreshadowing of his stud career when he joined the stallion ranks in 1999, retiring to Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky for $25,000.  By a top sire in Storm Cat and from a strong female family that includes champion Johannesburg (Hennessy) (out of Tale of the Cat’s half-sister) and Pulpit (A.P. Indy), Tale of the Cat has constantly ranked in the top 30 on the General Sires list since graduating from the crop-specific lists (where he was ranked in the top five on the first, second and third crop sires lists). While never a leading General Sire, Tale of the Cat is more often than not seen in the top 15 with his best ranking on that list being a seventh. The stallion has also done well enough with his 2-year-olds to lead the Two-Year-Old Sires list in 2003 and to rank second o
Read more