APEX BRIEFING

• APEX ratings were derived in 1985 at Racing Update, a bi-monthly newsletter (with no advertising!) edited and published in Lexington by Bill Oppenheim;
• APEX stands for Annual Progeny Earnings IndeX. The indexes measure the frequency with which stallions sire runners in three different class categories: top 2% of earners from runners (A Runners); next 2% (B Runners); next 4% (C Runners); and top 8% (ABC Runners, combined);
• APEX figures can be run in any jurisdiction, or combination of jurisdictions. For our purposes, which we classify as ‘Major Northern Hemisphere Racing’, we collect information from North America (the US and Canada, combined); three jurisdictions in Europe (UK and Ireland, combined; France; and Germany); and Japan. We then add together the totals from the five jurisdictions (covering seven countries) in the three regions.
• There are 17 different indexes for each sire: A, B, and C Runner indexes for each of the three regions (North America, Europe, Japan), and for all regions totaled – these are 12 indexes; one combined ABC Runner Index; and ABC Runner age ratings for 2-year-olds; 3-year-olds; 4-year-olds; and 5-year-olds and up.
• The APEX ratings are calculated on a rolling seven-year cycle, meaning each year the earliest year drops off and the latest one is added on; these figures cover the years 2005-2011; the figures run at the end of last year covered 2004-2010;
• Only sires which had 10 or more 3-year-olds in the last year covered (for these figures, 2011, or foals of 2008) are assigned ratings. The 10+ criterion restricts the calculations to stallions which have some chance to have some impact. So no freshman sires, those which had their first 2-year-olds in the last year covered, are ever rated. Sires must have 3-year-olds in the last year being used to be rated.

APEX EXAMPLES: AGE PROGRESSION & REGIONAL PREFERENCES
  Explanation of examples below

EXPLANATION OF EXAMPLES

AGE PROGRESSION

This shows two stallions whose runners typically are better younger, and two whose runners generally improve with age. Better younger: DIXIE UNION has a 1.98 ABC 2-year-old index, which then drops to 1.55 for 3-year-olds, and to just below 1.00 for 4-year-olds and up. TRIPPI, now a promising freshman sire in South Africa, had a 2.29 index for the 2-year-olds from his Florida crops, then declining each year – though still a very high 1.91 for 3-year-olds, down to 1.49 for 4-year-olds, and 1.14 for 5-year-olds and up. Better older: DANSILI shows a steady age progression, from a good score of 1.78 for 2-year-olds, to 1.93 for 3-year-olds, 2.21 for 4-year-olds, and 2.43 for 5-year-olds and up. The progression for GIANT’S CAUSEWAY is more dramatic: 1.57 for 2-year-olds, 1.96 for 3-year-olds, 2.41 for 4-year-olds, and 3.23 for 5-year-olds and up. This explains why you see so many older runners by these two sires, and good ones, too.

REGIONAL PREFERENCES

Here we look at how North American sires have done in Europe the last seven years, showing three which are better (at least so far) in North America, and three which have done very well in Europe. Better NA than EU: GIANT’S CAUSEWAY. He has a 3.97 A Runner Index from 1,034 year-starters in North America 2005-2011, but just a 1.33 A Runner Index in Europe, from 639 year-starters. EL PRADO is by Sadler’s Wells and only ever ran on turf, so you figure he’d be fine; but he had a 2.39 Index in North America (856 runners), and 1.65 in Europe – not bad, but not as good as one might hope – from 135 runners in Europe 2005-2011. His son, MEDAGLIA D’ORO, has had 10 times as many runners in North America (490) as in Europe (49), but even so he is 3.78 in North America and 1.02 in Europe. Still, the ratio of runners is so lopsided that the figures need to be treated with a certain degree of caution. As Good or Better EU: There aren’t too many left like KINGMAMBO, who actually had more runners in Europe (472) than in North America (286). He is 3.39 in Europe and 2.45 in North America. SMART STRIKE has always done well in Europe, and since 2005 he has a 2.99 A Runner Index in Europe, from 117 runners; in North America he has a 3.02 A Index, from 1,373 runners.  And SPEIGHTSTOWN has made a very good start in Europe, where he has a 3.47 A Index from 72 year-starters; he’s had 488 in North America, for a 3.48 A Index. So you wouldn’t be afraid to buy one by, or breed to, one of these sires for Europe, that’s for sure.