The quest for precocious speed

Despite all its bad press in recent times, sprint racing in general, and juvenile sprint racing in particular, has, and always will be, an essential part of the Pattern. And there have always been down through history a cohort of stallions whose prime ability was to sire fast and precocious thoroughbreds. Today is no different. But, given the fact that they always outnumber the middle-distance stallions and have fewer black-type opportunities and less prize money for their big races, it is important to assess these sires in the context of their direct competitors.

Coolmore’s No Nay Never, who is sire of 36 juvenile sprint Stakes winners to date, including 23 Group winners

The outstanding talent in this arena is Coolmore’s No Nay Never, who so far has amassed 36 juvenile sprint Stakes winners, which has only been bettered this century by Kodiac, who has an eight-year head start on the son of Scat Daddy. It is only a matter of time before the Coolmore sire takes command, as he’s already done in the competition for most Group winners with 23 to Kodiac’s 18, and Group 1 winners, with six compared with three for Kodiac. No Nay Never’s outstanding metrics are his percentage of Stakes winners and percentage of Group winners to runners, which come in 8.2 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively, by far the best this century. He’s sired two Group 1 Middle Park winners in Ten Sovereigns and Blackbeard; two Group 1 Cheveley Park heroines in Alcohol Free and True Love, plus a Group 1 Prix Morny winner in Whistlejacket and Group 1 Phoenix Stakes scorer Little Big Bear. Both Alcohol Free and True Love trained on at three to add further Group 1 successes, the former landing the Sussex, July Cup and Coronation Stakes, and the latter becoming the first filly to bag the Queen Mary, Cheveley Park and 1,000 Guineas since the Bold Lad (IRE) filly, Waterloo, in the early 1970s.

Whitsbury Manor Stud’s Havana Grey is the other major juvenile speed influence of the day with 17 two-year-old sprint Stakes winners already to his name at an excellent strike rate of 5.2 per cent from runners. He’s also the leader by percentage of winners to runners at 45.1 per cent. Dual Group 1 scorer Vandeek, who claimed the Group 2 Richmond, Group 1 Prix Morny and Group 1 Middle Park at two and ran third in the Group 1 July Cup the following year, is his sire’s best advertisement to date. On the back of an outstanding first year, when he sired 43 individual winners and 13 Stakes horses, including Vandeek, Havana Grey was rewarded with the first of four stellar books he’s covered since, and it has already produced 23 winners this year, featuring the Group 2 Norfolk scorer Orthodox. So, it is very much onwards and upwards for the Whitsbury stallion.

It’s no surprise to see a handful of very expensive stallions rating high up on our table, especially those that have stamina indices of around a mile. Juddmonte’s Kingman is such a horse, as are Lope de Vega and Night of Thunder. The veteran Oasis Dream falls into the affordable 15k and under cohort of stallions these days so, if you have confidence that his age is not against him, the likes of Group 1 Prix Morny winners Arcano and Pretty Pollyanna and Group 1 Middle Park hero Charming Thought among 12 career juvenile sprint Group winners, should give any breeder a measure of confidence.

Bungle Inthejungle, who stands at Rathasker Stud, has sired five juvenile Group winners to date

It says much that as many as five of Bungle IntheJungle’s seven career Group winners so far reached that status as sprint two-year-olds. The sire of Group 1 Nunthorpe scorer Winter Power – his only at the highest level – the Rathasker stallion has sired Stakes winners in all of his first eight crops and Group winners in seven of them. As a son of Exceed and Excel, he’s certainly a chip off the old block and his 3.2 per cent Stakes winners to runners in this domain is commendable, given there are many more expensive sires with lower scores.

Also on ten Stakes-winning sprint youngsters is Bated Breath who enjoyed some significant success recently when his son Coppull landed the Group 2 Hungerford over seven furlongs (which was a new distance for him), and he looks good enough to provide his sire with his first domestic Group 1 winner one day. Coppull, who won the Group 2 Richmond and finished third in the Group 1 Middle Park and Group 2 Coventry, is just about the best of the Juddmonte sire’s ten juvenile Stakes winners over five to six furlongs and, ranked by percentage of Stakes winners, Bated Breath is just ahead of Coolmore’s Sioux Nation, who sired his own first domestic Group 1 winner when the impressive Sun Goddess landed the Phoenix Stakes recently. Bated Breath also has a very competitive strike rate with his Group winners in this arena and has been more effective than the likes of Blue Point, Showcasing, Dark Angel and Sioux Nation, all of whom are standing at higher fees.

Recent Group 2 Hungerford Stakes winner, Coppull (right), also won the Group 2 Richmond Stakes as a 2yo for his sire Bated Breath

Kodiac has been one of the go-to stallions for fast youngsters since he retired in 2007 and he still leads all sires in this domain with 40 Stakes winners. His four Group 1 winners – all fillies – comprise a pair of Cheveley Park winners in Tiggy Wiggy and Fairyland, plus Prix Morny scorer Campanelle and Phoenix Stakes heroine Babouche. He has also been ably represented by his own sons Ardad, who has already sired eight Stakes-winning youngsters at up to six furlongs, and Kodi Bear, who has five. Both have three Group winners apiece. The Group 1 Prix Morny and Middle Park winner Perfect Power is the standout racehorse for Ardad, while Go Bears Go remains the most accomplished sired by Kodi Bear.

Ranked by winners to runners, we have to commend Harry Angel for his 40.9 per cent strike rate. Besides being one of only five surpassing 40 per cent, he’s by far the most inexpensive. He’s ranked behind Havana Grey (45.1 per cent), Night of Thunder (41.4 per cent), Mehmas (41.3 per cent) and marginally ahead of No Nay Never (40.1 per cent). Group 3-winning Marshman (TF116) is just about Harry Angel’s best performer on these shores, but he has three Group 1 winners to his name in Australia, headed by the 123-rated Tom Kitten. Soldier’s Call and Kodi Bear are two more that show up well by percentage of winners to runners.

LEADING SIRES BY PERCENTAGE OF CAREER JUVENILE SPRINT BLACK-TYPE WINNERS TO RUNNERS
(To Aug 19th. 100+ Runners)