older sires
Dominance to continue
The big guns Frankel and Dubawi look set to stay at the top for a while longer, writes Jocelyn de Moubray, but there are a number of stallions who could make a significant impact to European breeding through next season and beyond
Dubawi
W
E CAN BE SURE THAT, come the autumn of 2026, when the products of 2024 matings will be offered for sale as yearlings, the top two sires in Europe will be Frankel and Dubawi. Juddmonte’s Frankel has now had seven crops of three-year-olds to race and has long since reduced to silence the early doubters who thought his progeny lacked speed. Frankel is now the sire of 31 Group 1 winners and 24 European Group 1 winners. He is, though, a sire of middle-distance horses; his progeny’s average winning distance is 9.5f and 65 per cent of their
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Frankel
One difference between Frankel’s record and that of his sire Galileo or grandsire Sadler’s Wells is that most of his progeny enjoy firm ground
wins at three come over further than 1m2f. One difference between Frankel’s record and that of his sire Galileo or grandsire Sadler’s Wells is that most of his progeny enjoy firm ground, and among current European sires only Ardad and Toronado have a higher proportion of their wins on firm or good to firm ground. The ability to act on firm ground is not essential for the progeny of a top stallion in Europe, but it makes success in Japan, the US or Australia far more likely. Dubawi’s 14th crop of three-year-olds was not one of his best with only one Group 1 performer in Europe, the filly Never Ending Story. However, Darley’s champion sire has
