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LEADING SIRES BY AVERAGE TIMEFORM RATING OF BEST TEN HORSES
(Standing for up to £15,000 in 2024)

Name	Born	Fee 24	Sire	AvT10 TFR	Top Rated	TFR
Oasis Dream	2000	£15,000	Green Desert	125.3	Muhaarar	130
Holy Roman Emperor	2004	€8,000	Danehill	122.1	Designs On Rome	130
Iffraaj	2001	£10,000	Zafonic	120.6	My Prospero, Ribchester	129
Motivator	2002	€5,000	Montjeu	119.9	Treve	134
Footstepsinthesand	2002	€8,000	Giant's Causeway	119.4	Beauty Flame, Heshem, Pure Champion	123
Equiano	2005	€2,000	Acclamation	118.6	The Tin Man	126
Kendargent	2003	€15,000	Kendor	118.3	Skaletti	124
Intello	2010	€8,000	Galileo	117.9	Young Rascal	125
Raven's Pass	2005	€7,500	Elusive Quality	117.8	Matterhorn	123
Lawman	2004	€4,000	Invincible Spirit	117.4	Harbour Law	119
Muhaarar	2012	€14,000	Oasis Dream	116.7	Eshaada	120
Golden Horn	2012	£10,000	Cape Cross	114.2	Trawlerman	124
Make Believe	2012	€10,000	Makfi	113	Mishriff	131
Bated Breath	2007	£10,000	Dansili	112.5	Space Traveller	118
Territories	2012	£10,000	Invincible Spirit	112.2	Aldaary	124
Awtaad	2013	€5,000	Cape Cross	111.3	Anmaat	125
Ulysses	2013	£9,000	Galileo	111	Mighty Ulysses	117
Twilight Son	2012	£6,000	Kyllachy	109.5	Twilight Calls	117
Kodi Bear	2012	€15,000	Kodiac	108.6	Go Bears Go	116
Belardo	2012	£5,500	Lope de Vega	108.5	Gold Phoenix	120
Almanzor	2013	€10,000	Wootton Bassett	107	Lassaut	118
Goken	2012	€15,000	Kendargent	106.2	Fang	115
Cotai Glory	2012	€12,500	Exceed and Excel	105.8	Atomic Force	112
Bungle Inthejungle	2010	€7,500	Exceed and Excel	105.3	Winter Power	123
Zelzal	2013	€10,000	Sea the Stars	104.5	Dolce Zel	112
Galileo Gold	2013	€7,000	Paco Boy	101.3	Ebro River	113

Such is the clamour for access to the top commercial sires these days that a very high proportion of mares end up getting covered by a stallion too expensive for their own pedigree. It’s remarkable that, every autumn, approaching four out of every ten mares sold in-foal don’t make enough money to cover the advertised stud fee of the covering sire. More than ever, it is important to look for value among the stallion ranks. To this end, it might be productive to run the rule over those sires standing for up to £15,000 or €15,000 and examine them through the lens of how good their best ten horses are according to their Timeform ratings. 

Stallions available at 15k or less tend to fall into two groups, those that are no longer considered commercial for whatever reason and those starting out which are still on many people’s watch lists. Among the former group are some veteran stallions that have proven themselves beyond all doubt and are being shunned simply because of their age. 

At the top of the table is Oasis Dream who has all the hallmarks of a top-class sire. His average of 125.3 for his best ten runners puts him firmly in the elite category, as does his percentage of Stakes winners to runners, which is hovering at around 9%, an excellent return for a speed sire. Can he still deliver the goods? That is the question we have to ask ourselves. Now 24 years old, the former Champion Sprinter has proved through his top-class son Native Trail – conceived when his sire was 18 – and his Group 2 Vintage Stakes winner Marbaan – conceived when Oasis Dream was 20 – that his age may not be such a risk factor. Then you have the added reassurance that he’s a truly top-class broodmare sire, so his daughters have a great residual value.

Holy Roman Emperor has always been among the less expensive go-to sires and he has a proven ability to produce top quality stock.

Whereas Oasis Dream may have slid further down the commercial scale, Coolmore’s Holy Roman Emperor has always been among the less expensive proven go-to sires. His top-class Hong Kong sons Designs On Rome (rated 130 by Timeform), and Beauty Only (rated 125), are perfect advertisements for his ability as a sire and contribute significantly to his top-ten average of 122.1. He has to be great value at just €8,000, particularly as he’s proved he retains the ability to sire nice horses such as last year’s Group 3-winning juvenile Geography, plus the Group 3-placed Great Generation.

Darley’s Iffraaj, the sire of the red-hot Wootton Bassett, is another proven veteran. One of his two top-rated runners, My Prospero, winner of the Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam and like his sire’s Ribchester rated 129 by Timeform, was foaled as recently as 2019. This just goes to show that if you have a good mare, Iffraaj can come up with a very good horse. 

Raven’s Pass is another Darley stallion worthy of consideration in that he always delivers a very high proportion of Stakes winners for his fee level at just €7,500. Sire of horses of the calibre of Matterhorn (Timeform 123) and crack Japanese sprinter Tower Of London (Timeform 122), plus Group 1-winning two-year-old Royal Marine, he’s even got a juvenile Stakes winner from his 2021 crop in Son Of Corballis, winner of the Tipperary Stakes. Moreover, his sire line has had a productive start to the year with his paternal half-brothers Quality Road and Bullbars supplying Group 1 Pegasus World Cup winner National Treasure and Group 1 C F Orr Stakes winner Mr Brightside respectively.

Among the younger fully exposed sires is Muhaarar, who’s enjoying a bit of a renaissance at his new home, Haras du Petit Tellier, after his son Marhaba Ya Sanafi, won the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains last year to become his sire’s second top level winner. It is now clear that this top-class sprinter by Oasis Dream is anything other than a speed influence as his stamina index of 8.6 furlongs and his highest-rated runner is the mile-and-a-half Group 1-winning Eshaada would suggest. Interestingly, his daughters feature a very respectable 8.4% Stakes winners to runners and it is not beyond to bounds of possibility that many of his earlier well-bred daughters will become good broodmares, as was the case with his own sire Oasis Dream.

Muhaarar, sire of last year’s French 2000 Guineas winner Marhaba Ya Sanafi, is enjoying a bit of a renaissance since his move to France.

There are not many on our list that have sired what Timeform consider a ‘very high-class’ horse, those rated from 125 to 129. One that has is Derrinstown Stud’s Awtaad in the shape of Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan winner Anmaat from a very productive first crop that featured six Stakes winners in total from 77 runners (7.8%). His other Group 1 scorer is the Timeform 113-rated Anisette from her sire’s third crop, who scored a top level double on America’s west coast last year in the Del Mar Oaks and American Oaks.

Another sire with this distinction is the Irish National Stud’s Equiano, available for only €2,000. This son of Acclamation is value even within this group given that he’s responsible for a top ten average of 118.6 and has the very high-class The Tin Man (TF126) as his top horse, while the fact that Make Believe can sire one as good as Mishriff (TF131) must also bring him into consideration at his €10,000 fee, given that his biggest and one of his best crops race this year as two-year-olds. 

Territories, who stands at £10,000, has a high-class horse on his resumé in the shape of the Timeform 124-rated Aldaary, plus the excellent Group 1 winners Rougir and Regional. Then there is Bated Breath, who tends to produce Stakes horses at a level way above what his £10,000 would suggest. I would also mention Belardo at £5,500 because he too is about to be represented by his best-ever crop, conceived the year after he’d sired three first-crop Group-winning juveniles. Finally among this group, Ulysses also has two strong crops about to take the stage, as will have Cotai Glory, who covered his best set of mares last spring which ought to protect any 2024 investment in the son of Exceed And Excel.

Calyx had four sons rated 100 or higher in his first crop and covered a large number of quality mares in 2023.

Among the sires available for 15k or less this spring that were represented with their first runners last year are four that have already sired a Timeform 100-rated runner. This group will be very much under the spotlight this term, as they will be expected to show their stock can progress markedly from two to three, before they are deemed to have done enough to earn the continued support of commercial breeders. 

Top of the pile is Kingman’s son Calyx who has four colts rated 100 or higher. Commercial breeders actually gave a big thumbs up to the Group 2 Coventry winner last spring, substantially increasing the number and quality of his mares and all before he had had a runner. In the event, he didn’t disappoint, siring two Group 2 winners and a Group 3 winner, plus Group 1 Dewhurst third Eben Shaadad, his highest rated at 109. 

Soldier’s Call also assembled a talented bunch of two-year-olds last term, headed by Group 3 Prix Eclipse winner Dawn Charger (Timeform 102). We are also entitled to expect more from the first three-year-olds by Lope de Vega’s Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain, sire of Group 2 Vintage Stakes winner Hateem, as well as those by Lanwades’ Deep Impact stallion Study Of Man, who has a live Classic contender in the shape of the Timeform 108-rated Group 2 Beresford Stakes winner Deepone. Advertise and the Invincible Spirit duo of Inns Of Court (sire of the 100-rated Listed winner Megarry), and Invincible Army are all also competitively priced based on the 2023 achievements.

LEADING FIRST-CROP 2023 SIRES BY AVERAGE TIMEFORM RATING OF BEST TEN HORSES
(Standing for up to £15,000 in 2024)

Name	Born	Fee 24	Sire	AvT10 TFR	Top Rated	TFR
Calyx	2016	€12,500	Kingman	96.4	Eben Shaddad	109
Soldier's Call	2016	£8,500	Showcasing	90.9	Dawn Charger	102
Phoenix of Spain	2016	€10,000	Lope de Vega	88.2	Haatem	98
Inns of Court	2014	€5,000	Invincible Spirit	87.4	Megarry	100
Magna Grecia	2016	€10,000	Invincible Spirit	86.4	Neapolitan	93
Advertise	2016	£10,000	Showcasing	85.6	Matters Most	94
Invincible Army	2015	€5,000	Invincible Spirit	85.3	Kitty Rose	93
Study of Man	2015	£12,500	Deep Impact	83.4	Deepone	108
Masar	2015	£10,000	New Approach	80.2	Golden West	91