rising sires
On an
upward curve
Jocelyn de Moubray spots 14 “rising sires” who stand for less than €/£10,000, but who are more than outperforming that price bracket
T
HE EUROPEAN STALLION MARKET is ever-more focused on a small group of super sires. In 2021 there were 20 sires in Europe, 18 in Ireland and two in Britain, who covered 168 Flat mares or more, and these 20 covered 3,800 mares between them. This concentration has been progressing steadily in recent years. Ten years ago the 20th most popular Flat sire in Europe covered only 145 mares, and the top 20 covered 3,200 mares between them, so some 20 per cent fewer than was the case in 2021. Of the foals to be born this year in Britain, Ireland and France around 30 per cent will be by one of the 20 most popular sires, and half by one of 37 who covered 150 mares or more. This is an “about” as there are only estimates as to the proportion of foals born in each country who are destined for Flat
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racing as opposed to jump racing. The overall foal crop in Britain, Ireland and France grew through the years from 2012 and the 2019, the most recent for which statistics are available, from around 12,000 to 13,000. The number of foals rose by about eight per cent, while the number by one of the 20 most popular sires rose by 19 per cent. The consequences of this concentration in the stallion market are the subject for a different article, but one very obvious conclusion is that there are plenty of stallions who never get the opportunity to realise their potential. If 37 stallions cover half of the Flat mares available, the other 650 sires officially at stud have to compete for the remaining mares. This article looks at 14 sires standing in 2022 in England, Ireland, France and Germany for less than £10,000, who are still relatively young, they retired to stud in
2014 or later, and who have, in one way or another, shown above average ability as sires. And yet for the time being due to bad luck, human mistakes or any one of the many other possible explanations have yet to gain a place among the elite. For the older sires among them it is the fact that they have not only produced some high-class performers, but more importantly they have repeated above average returns for more than one season. For the younger sires, who have had only one or two crops to race, it is even more speculative, but black-type and stakes performers are not the only way, or even necessarily the best way, to estimate the ability of young sires.
CITYSCAPE (to stud 2014)
Selkirk-Tantina (Distant View) Overbury Stud £4,000 Cityscape has a similar profile to Reliable
