Nick Picking

One of the more fascinating aspects of a young sire’s stud career is how his genes work with the general mare population. Virtually all top-class sires tend to work well with a wide range of mares by different stallions, but the very best tend to have a few favourite broodmare sires whose daughters also tend to produce their best runners. A productive sire/broodmare sire combination is what most breeders seek to find, one that posts strike rates far in excess of what the sire and broodmare sire achieve in their own right. Here in Europe we have witnessed great combinations like the Sadler’s Wells-Darshaan nick responsible for 21% Stakes winners; the Galileo-Danehill axis that had 22% Stakes winners, and the Galileo-Pivotal partnership that had 35% Stakes winners.

The key is to find these sire/broodmare sire combinations as soon as possible. To this end it is worth having a look at the younger sires – born 2010 and after – that sired at least one Stakes winner in Europe during 2023 to see if there are any nicks that might one day rival the great combinations of the past. We have limited our search to those with five or more runners. 

Not surprisingly, Whitsbury’s Havana Grey puts his hand up yet again, this time showing what he can achieve with mares by Exceed And Excel. From just six runners so far, this cross, featuring two accomplished speed sires, has thrown up three Stakes winners (50%), headed by the unbeaten Vandeek, winner of the Group 1 Prix Morny and Group 1 Middle Park Stakes, plus Listed scorer Holguin, who finished fourth in the Lennox Stakes and Celebration Mile, both Group 2 events. This is a sire-broodmare sire combination that can be repeated for some time to come as there were over 350 Exceed And Excel-line mares reported in the latest Return of Mares.

Group 2 winner and Group 1 placed Vespertilio is one of four Stakes winners to date by Night Of Thunder out of Dansili mares.

Night Of Thunder is a sire everyone will be watching this season as the first three-year-olds from his best-ever crop start to compete. The crop has the potential to define his overall contribution. Last year he had Stakes winners out of mares by both Pivotal and Dansili. His own sire, Dubawi, has built a strong relationship with Dansili, siring seven Group winners from just 37 runners, including Group 1 winners Naval Crown and Nezwaah, as well as Time Test. For his part, Night Of Thunder already has four Stakes winners among his first 13 runners from daughters of Dansili, featuring Group 2 winner Vespertilio, who was also second in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes. Dubawi also has a good strike rate with Pivotal mares, siring four Stakes, including Group 1 scorer Kemari, from only 19 runners, whilst Night Of Thunder has three from six runners, featuring the Group 2 Solonaway Stakes winner Flight Plan and the Group 3 Jersey Stakes winner Molatham.

Coolmore’s dual Derby winner Australia, a one-time rival of Night Of Thunder, was also busy building on interesting nicks last year. His Group 3 Stanerra Stakes heroine Shamida is the second Stakes winner and Group winner after his Group 3 Prix du Calvados winner Beyond Reason from five runners out of daughters of the former Aga Khan stallion Azamour. With daughters of Acclamation, he’s sired three Group winners from 19 runners, including the brothers Group 1 winner Broome and Group 2 scorer Point Lonsdale. The son of Galileo also added to his collection of Stakes winners out of mares by Danehill Dancer, the broodmare sire that supplied Galileo with 25 Stakes winners that featured eight Group 1 winners, the brilliantly versatile Minding being the pick of them. Australia’s record with Danehill Dancer shows four Stakes winners among 27 runners headed by Sir Ron Priestley. 

Kingman, the third horse involved in the finish to the dramatic 2014 2,000 Guineas when he ran second to Night Of Thunder and beat Australia into third, is another who features prominently on our leaderboard. The Juddmonte sire, who typically gets Stakes winners from runners at a rate of around 12%, actually has very healthy results with several broodmare sires. With Sea The Stars mares he has an impressive four Stakes winners from 15 runners headed by the US Group 2 winner Technical Analysis, who has also twice run second at the highest level. Kingman is one of the sires contributing to the burgeoning reputation of Sea The Stars as a broodmare sire, his daughters so far being responsible for 33 (7%) Stakes winners and his better-bred daughters boasting an impressive 10% Stakes winners to runners. 

Dual Group 1 winner, Kinross, is one of three Stakes winners produced by the Kingman/Selkirk cross.

Meanwhile, dual Group 1 winner Kinross and Group 3 scorer Epictetus are two of the three Stakes winners Kingman has sired from 13 runners (23.1%) out of Selkirk mares. And the quality of his three Stakes winners from 18 runners (16.7%) out of Montjeu mares is even better with Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Feed The Flame heading up three Group winners. Inevitably, Kingman has crossed paths with daughters of Galileo on many occasions as the latter’s mares are usually a force for good in any pedigree. Of the 61 runners out of Galileo mares, Kingman has sired nine Stakes winners (14.8%), including the unbeaten Group 1 Fillies’ Mile heroine Commissioning.

While we are on the subject of Galileo as broodmare sire, we should point out that there are still plenty by him at stud, over 450 with Britain and Ireland returns in 2023 and a further 1,500 from his sire line. With 8% Stakes winners and an impressive 12% from his better mares, Galileo, in his role as a broodmare sire, has been the making of many a stallion. 

It is no surprise that other Coolmore sires have had plenty of exposure to the multiple Champion Sire. US Triple Crown winner Justify, though still in the early stages of his own stud career, has already had 36 runners from Galileo mares, and, while his strike rate is currently not much higher than Justify’s overall score, the fact that one of the four Stakes winners and three Group winners is the unbeaten European Champion 2yo and Group 1 Dewhurst winner City Of Troy will only serve to encourage more matings between the pair. Four of No Nay Never’s Stakes winners are among the 49 runners out of Galileo mares which is a return of 8.2%. 

Meanwhile, Galileo’s score when crossed with an Oasis Dream mare – a stallion with his own speed brand – is four Stakes winners from 16 runners (25%) and also an excellent 17% from daughters of High Chaparral. Even Muhaarar, whose 6.5% career strike rate necessitated his move away from Shadwell, had done very well with Galileo mares, siring four Stakes winners (20%), featuring the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains winner Marhaba Ya Sanafi.

Haras de Colleville’s Galiway, whose matings with Kendargent mares has produced 16.2% Stakes winners to runners.

Finally, it’s hard not to be impressed by the partnership between stud companions Galiway and Kendargent. The Haras de Colleville pair have combined to produce 37 runners, which includes six (16.2%) Stakes winners and four (10.8%) Group winners. Group 1 Champion Stakes winner Sealiway and his full brother Sunway, winner of the Group 1 Critérium International last term, are the top representatives of this cross.

LEADING SIRE/BROODMARE SIRE COMBINATIONS FOR SIRES BORN 2010+
(Minimum of 5 runners and 2 Stakes winners)