what makes a stallion? Danzig: the Claiborne stallion‘s early sire sons, apart from Green Desert, were not that successful
only that they are or were top sires, but also that their first crop of yearlings were rejected by the market. In Danehill’s case it was not just his first northern hemisphere crop, it was right through until his sixth crop sold that the median price of his European yearlings was more than double his stud fee.
When does a sire become a sire of sires?
There seem to be exceptions to every aspect of the standard criteria. As not only are some of Europe’s best sires by stallions who were never considered to be international sires of sires, Polar Falcon and Konigsstuhl among others, but also if you look at those that are by established sires or sires it is easy to have doubts. Green Desert is considered to be a sire of sires and yet his first two Group 1 winners Owington and Sheikh Albadou were failures. The same is more or less true of Danzig and Danehill. Apart from Green Desert, Danzig’s early sons were not all great stallions, Chief’s Crown, Danzig Connection, Polish Navy, Polish Precedent, Shaadi, Dayjur, Polish Patriot – these are not names you see every day in the pedigrees of top horses. Danehill’s sons were an immediate success in Australia, but in Europe neither Desert King nor Indian Danehill were long-term successes. Surprisingly about the best of the sire of sires if you examined in these terms is Sadler’s Wells, who was considered disappointing for years and yet whose first five crops included In The Wings, El Prado,
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Fort Wood and Barathea. On the whole once a stallion makes it to the top other sons of his sire are given more opportunities and so later a reputation as a sire of sires is established.
Is a lack of inbreeding an answer?
Given all these exceptions or variations from the accepted rules, it is hardly surprising that many serious breeders refuse to use unproven stallions at all. Are there any alternative theories which could add to anyone’s chances of picking a successful stallion? Looking at the table on page 74 of successful stallions there are two possibilities. First, and again Danehill is an exception, on the whole successful stallions are less inbred than the population as a whole. This is probably just a question of opportunities and it may after all be a result of unwarranted prejudices.
Perhaps it is time to look to the mothers?
Second, and a far more striking fact, are the similarities between the dams and the female family’s of successful stallions. The majority of the leading sires in both Europe and the US have top-class racemares among their first three dams, and not just good or useful racemares, but top-class ones. In the US, where the racing programme for fillies and mares is well established, most leading sires have Grade 1 performers among their first two dams; in Europe they tend to have the winners of the races which are
now Group 1s for fillies and mares or who performed against colts at a high level at two and three years old. Reflecting perhaps a widely cultural perception, in Britain mares tend to be selected by pedigree, they are those that come from established families and are sought after whatever the level of their own performances, whereas in the US it is racing ability which counts. A Grade 1 winner is a Grade 1 winner wherever she sprang from and she is valued as such. And when it comes to breeding stallions it looks as if it is the US approach which works. There are several examples of top stallions who come from average or ordinary families, but who have a top racemares among their first three dams. Female racing ability counts in a stallion’s pedigree and it appears one way of judging a horse’s genetic potential is to see if it has a top racemare, a filly able to perform in the best races at either two or three, is among its first three dams.
What influence from racing itself then?
The final possibility is a reflection of the way racing has changed over the last 30 years. In Europe, as in the US and more or less everywhere in the racing world, the best races tend to be run over shorter distances and the majority of races over a mile or less. Speed has always been important for thoroughbreds, but it is now more important than ever and this probably explains the dominance of the Northern Dancer stallion