Golden Horn’s sound performance

It wasn’t so long ago that the golden rule for classifying stallion success was ten per cent Stakes winners to foals, but with the coming of very large crop sizes many talented modern-day stallions will never be able to hit that mark, so it has become less effective as an inclusive and useful measure of success at the top level. But the winners-to-foals metric will always be very useful in making sense of stallion performance. This article will review some of the stallions that stood this year for £15,000/€15,000 and below in Britain and Ireland by percentage of winners to foals. It will concentrate on those aged up to 15 who are still attracting viable books of mares.

The Derby, Eclipse and Arc winner, Golden Horn began his stud career at Dalham Hall, but now stands as a dual purpose sire at Overbury Stud

One stallion that started out at a much higher fee is Golden Horn who stood at Dalham Hall under the Darley banner. His first three crops were conceived at £60,000 and his 2025 fee at Overbury Stud was just £10,000. Although this son of Cape Cross failed to deliver enough success to meet initial expectations, he has nevertheless produced some excellent numbers. Among all sires retired to stud in 2016 and after, Golden Horn has sired 14.9 per cent Stakes horses to runners, which is the best return of any sire standing at up to 15k. In fact, there are only two European sires retired since 2016 that can beat his score, namely the Dubawi stallions Night of Thunder and Zarak, both of whom stand for much higher fees. On this measure, Golden Horn is ahead of the likes of Mehmas, Havana Grey, Sioux Nation, New Bay, Too Darn Hot and Blue Point, all of whom also stand at much higher fees. 

Although he is still awaiting his first Group 1 winner, Golden Horn has four Group 2 scorers, three of which are also Group 1-placed, including the Timeform 124-rated stayer Trawlerman, plus Botanik (Timeform 122) and Gregory (Timeform 120). His 50.2 per cent winners to foals tops our table and he also boasts the best percentage of Stakes horses to foals at 10.9 per cent.

Another son of Cape Cross who scores highly is Shadwell’s Awtaad, whose current fee level is excellent value, given that his winners-to-foals strike rate of 42.7 per cent belongs to a small group of sires within this cohort topping 40 per cent. Unlike Golden Horn, Awtaad does have two Group 1 winners on the board, pride of place going to Anmaat, who defeated Calandagan in the Group 1 Champion Stakes last year. A remarkably consistent gelding who has won nine of his 15 races and has been placed in six more (including a close second to Los Angeles in Sunday’s Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup), Anmaat is rated 125 by Timeform, which is one pound ahead of his own sire. Anisette, meanwhile, is a triple Group 1 winner on the US west coast, winning the Del Mar Oaks, plus the American Oaks and Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita. We can also mention the 119-rated Al Qareem, winner of the Group 2 Prix Chaudenay and back-to-back runnings of the Group 3 Cumberland Lodge Stakes.

Derrinstown Stud’s Awtaad has a winners-to-foals strike rate of 42.7% and, as the sire of Group 1 winners Anmaat and Anisette, he represents excellent value

Coolmore’s Australia – yet another with a Cape Cross link – has always been a source of high-quality middle distance horses and stayers and he’s been represented by another two this year from his three-year-old crop in Group 3 Chester Vase winner Lambourn and the Group 3 Salsabil Stakes heroine Wemightakedlongway. The sire of ten Group 1 horses so far, featuring five winners, including Broome (123), Mare Australis (123), Galileo Chrome (122) and Order of Australia (121), Australia has now sired Group and Stakes winners in each of his first seven crops, an excellent achievement for a sire now standing for as little as €10,000. Moreover, he achieves 5.9 per cent Stakes winners to foals which is the best score of any standing at up to 15k. 

Another Coolmore sire, Calyx, was always going to be popular with breeders, being a wide-margin Group 2 Coventry winner by Kingman. The Timeform 124-rated Juddmonte colour bearer attracted a lot of attention in his first year, covering over 140 mares at a fee of €22,500 and his first-crop juveniles managed to go a long way towards satisfying expectations with three Group or Graded winners, including the Group 2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes winner Persian Dreamer and French Group 2 scorer Classic Flower. That success fuelled demand for nominations in 2024 to such an extent that the son of Kingman covered 264 mares, his biggest book to date, with all the quality he enjoyed in his first year. This massive book came on the back of 190 mares in 2023, and we can therefore expect a surge in Calyx’s fortunes from next year onwards, so it might be a good time to use him.

Darley’s Harry Angel is one of the most accomplished racehorses with this group, with a Timeform mark of 132. The son of Dark Angel may only have sired five Group 3 scorers from his first three northern hemisphere crops, but down under he’s a completely different proposition and a 2025 nomination will set you back $66,000. In Australia, he’s already sired a pair of Group 1 winners in Tom Kitten and Private Harry. 

Godolphin’s Tom Kitten won the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes over 2,000m and the Group 1 All Star Mile, while Private Harry struck in the Group 1 Galaxy over 1,100m. Remarkably, Harry Angel has posted identical metrics in both hemispheres with 4.1 per cent Stakes winners to foals in each. He also capable of considerably better numbers with a good mare in both regions with a strike rate of 12.5 per cent Stakes winners to runners in the north and 11.1 per cent in the south.

Exceed and Excel’s Cotai Glory has turned into a consistent source of high-quality speed in his first four years with runners. He’s got the all-important Group 1 winner in The Platinum Queen and has amassed 17 Stakes winners in all at a pretty fair rate for a speed sire of 5.5 per cent from runners, a metric that is also well ahead of what his mares have achieved with all other stallions. Moreover, his 6.5 per cent Stakes horses to foals is among the best of this review group. The fact that his fee has rise steadily to €15,000 in 2025 tells us that there is plenty of momentum behind the Tally-Ho stallion.

Sires standing in the UK & Ire at 15k and under by % of winners to foals