Value Sires

Let's acknowledge straightaway that this cursory look at some (and only some) of the major regional programs can represent little more than a gesture of respect. As a rule, after all, we're talking about stallions that serve an almost exclusively local market, and those that do so best will have a corresponding local reputation that scarcely needs amplifying. Moreover the same caveats apply, here, as to our recent survey of Kentucky options: namely, that the one or two we single out are purely subjective picks; and, above all, that you...

Obviously this is too wide a category, at $60,000 and upwards, to be always comparing like with like. And really those at the very apex have earned their monster fees by excellence too blatant for contention. Most of that will instead be reserved for those sires that remain somewhat more accessible, relatively speaking--especially given the Uncle Mo-sized hole that has tragically appeared in this sector. La creme de la creme is divided between a trio in the evening of their careers--Into Mischief, Curlin, Tapit--and those aiming to supplant them, led...

For this third part in our series on value sires in Europe, we are approaching the level where the word value perhaps becomes more meaningful in that we are dealing with stallions in the €10,000 to €19,999 fee bracket.  In this mid range, some sires are passing through, either on their way up as popularity and commercial demand soars, or dropping in fee during the sometimes notoriously difficult years in a stallion's career. Notably that often comes in the third and fourth seasons at stud when they are no longer...

In yesterday's edition of Value Sires for 2025, Chris McGrath profiled the stallions standing between $20,000 and $29,999, awarding the gold medal to Darley's Hard Spun (read more here). Here, we asked the breeders to hand out their top picks for this category. Carrie Brogden Gold: Hard Spun (Danzig x Turkish Tryst, by Turkoman), Darley, $25,000 My top value sire in this bracket is Hard Spun. Even though he doesn't always throw the most commercial physical horses, if you choose your mare wisely, you can get a sales horse that...

This tier of the market, between $20,000 and $29,999, offers particular value through its more established names: horses that have walked the walk sufficiently to clear the basement level, while somehow failing to achieve due commercial prestige. Indeed, our podium is dominated by the two eldest of the eligible stallions, while the only candidates considered for the third step were all in the process of consolidating strong starts. That said, the case for the three young sires at the other end of the spectrum--whose first foals are about to slither...

In yesterday's edition of Value Sires for 2025, Chris McGrath profiled the stallions standing between $10,001 and $19,999, awarding the gold medal to trusty Darley stalwart Midshipman (read more here). Here, we asked the breeders to hand out their top picks for this category. ANDREW CARY GOLD: Volatile (Violence - Meloday Lady, by Unbridled's Song) Three Chimneys Farm, $12,500 The brilliantly fast and talented son of Violence is off to a very promising start at stud, already with 24 first crop winners, six stakes horses (two Grade I placed) and...

If this seems a strangely specific category, that's because it is. There are two dozen sires standing in Kentucky at $10,000, a fee that attempts to preserve their dignity against a candid slide into the bargain basement. Though you're only a cent away from offering your stallion at four figures, you want him to look accessible without being low-rent. Only a couple are newcomers, all of which were dealt with separately in opening this series. Otherwise this is chiefly the bracket of youngish stallions whose rookie vogue is spent, anxious...

Having dealt with the rookies separately, we now start our quest for value among those stallions already at stud. We'll be going through the pyramid by price band, and today kick off at the level most accessible to breeders on a budget. But do not be deceived that we must be scraping the barrel here. If anything, candidly, there are more horses standing at four figures that one could trust--above all, for a breed-to-race program--than among far more expensive newcomers featured in the first instalment. Whether one could also recommend...

It's time to revisit our annual series to assess the sires of 2025 with the aim of working out where the value lies. We'll reissue the usual caveat that value means different things to different people. For the benefit of this series, we are using the euro as our currency for bracketing, and will deal with stallions in the following four tiers: €50,000 and up €20,000 to €49,999 €10,000 to €19,999 Under €10,000. Only one of the new additions to the European stallion ranks for 2025 makes it into the...

With 'TDN Rising Stars' Sierre Leone (Gun Runner) and Fierceness (City of Light) extending their rivalry into 2025, and the GI Kentucky Derby winner also persevering to a third campaign, there's no denying that the new intake of Bluegrass sires has a fairly bunched look. A cluster of second-tier names can duly compete for mares that might otherwise have favored one of the sophomore leaders, with eight of the 23 newcomers targeting broadly similar budgets between $40,000 and $30,000. Whether that qualifies any of them as "value" can only be...

We're at the top end now when it comes to stallion fees, but there is quite a range to those prices, which for this feature is anything above £/€20,000. There is of course a massive difference, certainly when it comes to value, in a stallion standing at £35,000 and one at £350,000. In fact, we have two at that latter fee, which makes Frankel (GB) and Dubawi (Ire), the champion sires of the last two years in Britain and Ireland, the most expensive stallions in the world. Those two representatives...

Stick or twist? That's the question faced by many breeders this year. Anecdotally, it appears that some will be pulling back and not covering certain mares, which is understandable after a tricky sales season, not to mention the constant reminders from racecourse managers regarding the "significant headwinds" faced by racing. Unlike America, the foal crop in Britain and Ireland has been gently on the rise in recent years, up to 13,438 in 2023, compared to 12,778 in 2020, though within that combined number for last year, the Irish crop rose...