First Season Sires

Friday   July 1

The monthly update of the numbers

HAVANA GREY                     runners  56    winners  20     runs   123     wins   24

SIOUX NATION                                    38 - 14 - 76 - 15

EXPERT EYE                                        26 - 7 - 56 - 8

CRACKSMAN                                         9 - 6 - 18 - 7

TASLEEF                                                19 - 5 - 38 - 7                                 

Wednesday    June  1

And it's over to George Dawes for the scores on the doors :

HAVANA GREY                   runners 37 winners 15 runs 65 wins 18

SIOUX NATION                                29  -  9  -  46  -  10

JAMES GARFIELD                           7  -  3  -  13  -  5

TASLEET                                            11  -  4  -  20  -  5

CRACKSMAN                                      5  -  4  -  8  -  4    

Impressive number of winners for HAVANA GREY and impressive strike rate for CRACKSMAN.

Sunday           May 1        9.00 a.m.

With the first month of the season behind us just a brief look at "the scores on the doors".

HAVANA GREY   Number of runners 16  Number of winners 3  Number of runs 21  Number of wins  4

SIOUX NATION           10  -  3  -  11  -  3

U. S. NAVY FLAG          3  -  2  -  4  -  2

JUNGLE CAT                 2  -  2  -  3  -  2

 

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 Hi! I'm Colin.

This blog will concentrate on this season's 2-y-o races but will undoubtedly, at times, decline into maudlin reminiscence. I'm nearer 80 than 70 and I have loads of health problems. No doubt I'll touch on those later, but in the words of the frog "Let's Get Things Started".

I use the Talking Horses forum and a few years back one of the forumites posted about the betting for Champion First Season Sire. It was a market that I wasn't aware of and that gave me the idea that might be an angle to explore. Un-raced and lightly-raced horses don't consume a great deal of time in form study, which appealed, and perhaps there was an opportunity to explore a path less-travelled.

It did lead me to commit to a thread which I boringly named First Season Sires. It flagged up these stallions progeny entries and reported winners by those said progeny.

To be perfectly honest I don't think the thread was ever very successful. Limited response with just a couple of people responding. It can be frustrating and my commitment was tested often and last season I gave up on it.

That was the past, on this blog I will be looking at top sires of 2-y-os rather than just the newbies.

But to start here are the First Season Sires of 2022:

Sioux Nation 1/2 covered 241 mares
Havana Grey 9/4 covered 145 mares
Saxon Warrior 6/1 covered 165 mares
Expert Eye 10/1 covered 139 mares
Roaring Lion 14/1 covered 133 mares
Harry Angel 14/1 covered 139 mares
Kessaar 25/1 covered 97 mares
Cracksman 33/1 covered 147 mares
Massaat 100/1 covered 84 mares
U.S. Navy Flag 100/1 covered 119 mares
Tasleet 100/1 covered 107 mares
Gustav Klimt 100/1 covered 117 mares
Rajasinghe 200/1 covered 33 mares
Unfortunately 500/1 covered 52 mares
Washington DC 500/1 covered 67 mares
Lightning Spear 500/1 covered 55 mares
Smooth Daddy 500/1 covered 71 mares
James Garfield 500/1 covered 68 mares

The table supplied by my good friend, Gary, shows the sire, his price in the Champion First Season Sire market and the number of mares the stallion covered.  

As you see Sioux Nation was a very busy boy and by sheer strength of numbers looks a likely champion but 1/2 ain't very tempting.

SIOUX NATION stands at Coolmore at a fee of 10,000 euros, down from 12,500 for his first two seasons, I haven't researched this but it does seem very unusual for Coolmore to have a young sire 'working' so hard. Isn't burnout possible?

Right let's have a look at the contenders in a little more detail.

SIOUX NATION           Official rating 111           Racing Post Rating 115 

By Scat Daddy out of Dream The Blues, a daughter of Oasis Dream. Oodles of speed there. For such a speedy individual it was surprising that he didn't start winning until his fourth run, the 5f. Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot on Good To Firm. Aiden O'Brien's only runner in the race and a juicy 14/1 winner for the stable faithful. Ground condition seemed quite important to him, all his best winning form coming on fast ground. Something to remember for his progeny. Probably his most important performance was to take the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes over 6f. on good to firm at the Curragh. He was kept busy throughout his career running 15 times and winning 4, so not unbeatable at the very top level. He ran 8 times as a 3-y-o  with just the one victory a Group 3 at Naas over 6f. on Good to Firm.

HAVANA GREY                O.R.  112             R.P.R.  115

By Havana Gold out of a Dark Angel mare. Didn't appear until the end of April to make his debut at Nottingham having to settle for second after going off 5/4 favourite but he did show plenty, staying on well after being headed inside final furlong, that was over 5f. on Good To Firm. He made amends at Ayr and then went on to take the Listed National Stakes at Sandown. Didn't have the luckiest of runs when disappointing in the Norfolk at Ascot behind Sioux Nation. Went on to win the Molecomb at Goodwood 5f. Soft but perhaps his best performance at two was a second beaten half-a-length in the Flying Childers 5f. Good to Soft. He ran six times as a 3-y-o winning two, the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes and the Group 1 Flying Five both at the Curragh both over 5f., one on Good to Firm and one on Good to Yielding. Havana Grey doesn't appear to be as ground dependent as Sioux Nation. 

SAXON WARRIOR                        O.R.  121              R.P.R.   122

He also stands at Coolmore by Deep Impact out of a Galileo mare, apparently more stoutly bred than the two we have already looked at. He didn't appear on a course until August over a mile at the Curragh on Yielding ground and winning in very nice fashion. He had three runs as a 2-y-o and won them all. His final victory for his first season being the Racing Post Trophy over a mile on Good to Soft. Started his 3-y- o career by winning the 2,000 Guineas. Didn't have the clearest of runs in The Derby but 12f. probably not his optimum trip. Beaten favourite again in The Irish Derby, dropped back in trip for his final two runs but twice put in his place by Roaring Lion. Undoubtedly will produce top-class youngsters but he doesn't look like a First Season Sire champion to me.

EXPERT EYE                          O.R.   119                     R.P.R.  120

By Acclamation out of a Dansili mare, typical 2-y-o breeding. Expert Eye only had three runs in his first season but he won two and finished lame in the Dewhurst. Making his debut at Newbury in the middle of June over 6.5f. on good ground and winning cosily. Went on to win, impressively, the Vintage at Goodwood over 7f. on, again, Good ground. Did very well at three, running seven times, winning three and being placed in three, the only flop being the 2,000 Guineas, I say flop but he was impeded in the race and all chance went. On racing post ratings his best performance was the Jersey at Ascot over 7f. on Good to Firm going clear to win by over four lengths. He is probably classier than his breeding would suggest and will produce good winners but difficult to see him having enough runners and winners to compete with Sioux Nation.

So, in my opinion, the weight of numbers almost ensures the favourite's position but the price is prohibitive. I should also add a rider to this,  If SIOUX NATION"s progeny have the same need of fast ground that the sire appeared to have that could seriously reduce his number of winners.

So, I'll leave the First Season Sires for now and have a look at the old boys on the block.