By Brian Sheerin
Minzaal has been chalked up at odds as short as 10-11 for first-season sires' championship honours by Paddy Power, whose trader James Ryan said it is the Derrinstown Stud-based stallion's 'title to lose'.
Ryan, who priced up the market, also revealed that the firm is happy to lay second-favourite Blackbeard at odds of 6-4. Meanwhile, Baaeed has not gone unsupported at odds of 66-1.
According to Global Stallions, Minzaal has 115 two-year-olds to run for him this year while Blackbeard has the same number of juveniles. Tally-Ho Stud's representative Persian Force has 99 soldiers on the ground and can be backed at odds of 4-1 to emulate stud mates Starman and Mehmas by landing the championship.
Explaining how the firm prices up the market, Ryan said, “The first-season sires market is always an exciting one to price up and really seems to get the bloodstock enthusiasts' opinions out. The main factors that go into pricing up the market would be the number of two-year-olds that each stallion has to run for them, how the stock got on at the sales, the average ratings of the mares as two-year-olds and the percentage of the mares' progeny that raced at two.”
He added, “By far the most popular first-season sires in the market so far are Baaeed at 66-1 and Blackbeard, who is the second favourite behind Minzaal at 6-4. However, we think it's a two-horse race between Minzaal and Blackbeard and would be happy laying Blackbeard between the two of them. We firmly think it's Minzaal's title to lose.”
Minzaal was a supremely fast two-year-old himself, winning the Gimcrack before signing off on his career with victory in the Group 1 Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock as a four-year-old. He stands at Derrinstown Stud for €12,500 and his debut crop was conceived at a fee of €15,000.
Meanwhile, Space Traveller has been introduced at odds of 20-1 while Perfect Power, Caturra and Naval Crown are 50-1 shots. It's 100-1 and bigger the remainder.
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