The Return of Mares, published by Weatherbys in October each year, is required reading for bloodstock industry professionals and pedigree enthusiasts alike, recording as it does the identity of every foal born and mare covered in Britain and Ireland in the previous breeding season.
This is a decline across both countries - a combined reduction of 665 foals (-5%) – due in part to slower registrations in 2020. This decline is in line with global Thoroughbred foal crop trends, which have seen a decline in the last 15 years of 35,000 foals (-28%) from 123,000 in 2005 to 88,000 last year.
Here Martin Stevens highlights some of the main stories from this year’s edition.
Who was Britain and Ireland’s new busiest stallion?
There was a new name at the head of the list of Britain and Ireland’s busiest sires in 2020, ending Soldier Of Fortune's four-year reign at the top. The much sought-after stallion in question was Coolmore’s recent National Hunt recruit Maxios.
The 12-year-old son of Monsun covered 298 mares in his first season at Castlehyde Stud in Ireland, having spent the first six years of his stallion career in a flat role at Gestüt Fährhof in Germany.
Maxios was always bound to be popular with jumps breeders, being an attractive dark bay son of Monsun, whose male-line descendants include the superstars Sprinter Sacre (by Network) and Annie Power (by Shirocco). Furthermore, he hails from one of the Niarchos family’s most illustrious dynasties, as a half-brother to Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero Bago out of Moonlight’s Box, an unraced daughter of champions Nureyev and Coup De Genie.
Maxios maintained family honour by landing two G1s, the Prix d’Ispahan and Prix du Moulin, and his first crops yielded Diamanta, winner of the Preis der Diana in 2019, and Master Of Wine, a G3 scorer since being exported to Australia.
More to the point, perhaps, was that several offspring of Maxios had started to shine over jumps in Britain and Ireland by the start of this year’s breeding season, such as Ecco and Star Max. And what would have intensified already strong demand for his services was the victory of his son Aramax in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The Maxios bandwagon keeps rolling, and in recent weeks he has been represented by Quilixios, a 13-length winner of a Punchestown juvenile hurdle on his debut for Gordon Elliott, and Ucanever, a 20-length scorer in a Fontwell bumper on her first run for Anthony Honeyball.
A book of mares fit for a king
The first port of call for many when they lay their hands on the Return of Mares is to check out the mares who have visited the elite sires in the past 12 months.
There are none more elite than Britain and Ireland’s 11-time champion sire, Galileo, of course, and it goes without saying that he once again covered a book chock-full of outstanding racemares and producers in his 19th Northern Hemisphere covering season at Coolmore.
As a taster of the G1 winners he received in 2020, there were - take a deep breath! - Abel Tasman, Again, Alpha Centauri, Amazing Maria, Amicus, Awesome Maria, Beauty Parlour, Daddys Lil Darling, Esoterique, Fairyland, Fiesolana, Goldikova, Lady Eli, Legatissimo, Let’s Go Donki, Mecca’s Angel, Nickname, Pretty Pollyanna, Quiet Reflection, Sea Siren, Switch, Tepin, Tiggy Wiggy and Wild Illusion.
He was also sent the dams of G1 winners Amazing Maria, Billesdon Brook, Blue Point, Cloth Of Stars, Churchill, Danedream, Forever Together, Free Eagle, Garswood, Gleneagles, Harzand, Hermosa, Jack Hobbs, Japan, Peaceful, Sovereign, The Gurkha, Tiggy Wiggy, Thunder Snow and Waldgeist.
Moreover, the book contained three very special mares who were G1 winners themselves and have also produced G1 winners at paddocks - Chelsea Rose (dam of Kew Gardens), Halfway To Heaven (dam of Magical and Rhododendron) and Red Evie (dam of Found).
With so many exceptionally well-bred runners in the pipeline, it seems safe to assume that Galileo has plenty more British and Irish sire championships within his grasp.
A last roll of the dice with Deep Impact
The world lost one of its great stallions in 2019 when Deep Impact died after failing to recover from neck surgery at the Shadai Stallion Station in Japan.
The son of Sunday Silence had supplied numerous top-flight winners in Japan and had made his presence felt in Europe through Classic winners Beauty Parlour, Saxon Warrior and Study Of Man. The significance of his death aged only 17 was magnified this year when his daughter Fancy Blue took the Prix de Diane and Nassau Stakes for rookie trainer Donnacha O’Brien.
European fans of Deep Impact will be able to see his progeny race for a good while yet, though, as the Return of Mares records six of his foals as having been born in Britain and Ireland this year.
Coolmore own four of those - colts out of G1 winners Hydrangea, Maybe and Rhododendron, and a filly out of Minding. Maybe has already clicked with Deep Impact to produce Saxon Warrior.
Godolphin meanwhile welcomed a Deep Impact filly out of Hibaayeb, a G1 winner herself and dam of a G1 winner in Wuheida, and the Niarchos family have bred a filly by the sire out of Malicieuse, a Galileo half-sister to the popular Maxios.
With spaces in Deep Impact’s book last year hard to come by even before his season was cut short due to his neck problem, several European breeders appear to have looked to other Japanese sires in 2019.
There are three 2020 foals recorded in Britain and Ireland by Daiwa Major, a champion sprinter and miler by Sunday Silence whose early crops have contained six elite winners including Hong Kong Mile hero Admire Mars.
They are the Wertheimer brothers’ colt out of Dancequest, the Niarchos family’s filly out of Diaphora and Coolmore’s colt out of the top-class Peeping Fawn.
Former world champion sprinter Lord Kanaloa - who is currently world #6 in the TRC Global Rankings - had one foal registered in Britain or Ireland in 2020. That was a filly out of U.S. G3 winner Guilty Twelve bred by Craig Bennett’s Merry Fox Stud.
Jet Away soaring in the popularity stakes
Maxios was not the only jumps sire to be rewarded for making a breakthrough on the track with a bumper-sized book of mares this year. Jet Away’s covering numbers at Arctic Tack Stud in Ireland rose from 143 in 2019 to 288 in 2020, putting the 13-year-old son of Cape Cross second only to Maxios in terms of popularity.
Jet Away was bred by Juddmonte and was originally raced by Khalid Abdullah’s operation. A contemporary of Frankel under the tutelage of Sir Henry Cecil at Warren Place in Newmarket, his finest hour carrying the iconic green, white and pink colours came with a comprehensive defeat of future Melbourne Cup winner Fiorente in the listed Festival Stakes.
The close relation to Juddmonte blue hen Hasili was later sold to Douglas Taylor, the breeder of Samcro, and was sent to Australia for his own Cup campaign. He distinguished himself down under by taking the G3 Easter Cup and running a close fourth in the Caulfield Cup, and he might have made his mark in the Melbourne Cup but for having to miss the famous race due to an injury.
Jet Away entered Arctic Tack Stud in 2015 and has always been popular, covering three-figure books every year, apart from in his third season, when he dipped just below at 98.
His numbers surged this year on the back of the bright start made by his first 4-year-old runners in the point-to-point field. They included Brandy Love, who scored by eight lengths for Colin Bowe at Cragmore and subsequently sold to Willie Mullins for £200,000 at a Tattersalls Cheltenham Sale; Bring The Action, who trotted up in a Tinahely maiden for Denis Murphy; and Supreme Jet, a decisive winner of an Oldtown maiden on debut for Patrick O’Farrell.
Fittingly, it was Douglas Taylor who owned the first Jet Away jumps winner under rules, with the Gordon Elliott-trained Gordon’s Jet taking a Punchestown bumper by five lengths in September.
Crystal clear appeal to jumps breeders
It is not every year that a world champion racehorse retires directly to the ranks of National Hunt stallions, so it was no surprise that breeders piled into Crystal Ocean as he entered The Beeches Stud in Ireland.
Crystal Ocean, who jointly topped the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for 2019, alongside his regular rivals Enable and Waldgeist, covered 280 mares. That made the son of Sea The Stars the third busiest sire in Britain and Ireland overall in 2020 and the most in-demand among the new sires.
The next most popular newcomers in Britain and Ireland were Inns Of Court at Tally-Ho Stud (218 mares), Ten Sovereigns at Coolmore (214), Blue Point at Kildangan Stud (198), Magna Grecia at Coolmore (180), Too Darn Hot at Dalham Hall Stud (172), Soldier’s Call at Ballyhane Stud (164), Calyx at Coolmore (163), Capri at Grange Stud (158), Land Force at Highclere Stud (155), Phoenix Of Spain at the Irish National Stud (148), Masar at Dalham Hall Stud (146), Invincible Army at Yeomanstown Stud (138), Advertise at the National Stud (138) and Waldgeist at Ballylinch Stud (117).
Enjoying a boost in fortunes
Several sires were subject to a big upturn in business in 2020, thanks to a change in circumstances or a good run of results with their progeny on the racecourse.
Poet’s Word, who took the scalp of Cracksman in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and defeated Crystal Ocean in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2018, proved far more popular in a National Hunt role at Boardsmill Stud than he did as a flat stallion across the Irish Sea at Nunnery Stud in his first year as a stallion in 2019.
The good-looking son of Poet’s Voice covered 221 mares in his new home, up from just 30 in the preceding year.
There was much talk at the start of the year about Night Of Thunder being in fierce demand after he took the bloodstock industry by storm in 2019 by delivering a record-equalling seven stakes winners and outstanding winner-to-runner strike rates with his first European 2-year-olds. The evidence is there to be seen in the Return of Mares.
The Classic-winning son of Dubawi covered 213 mares at Kildangan Stud, up from 106 at Dalham Hall Stud in 2019.
Naturally, there was a steep increase in quality as well as quantity in Night Of Thunder’s book of mares. As a snapshot, he covered 81 black-type-performing mares in 2020 versus 17 in 2019.
Among those he covered this year were the dams of G1 winners Arcano, Best Solution, Halfway To Heaven, King Of Change, Margot Did, Nezwaah, Precieuse, Rizeena, Slade Power, Technician, Was and Wonderment.
In all, there were 17 sires in Britain and Ireland who covered 200 or more mares in 2020, down slightly from 19 in 2019.
Besides those mentioned already, they were: Churchill at Coolmore (250), Order Of St George at Castlehyde Stud (247), Getaway at Grange Stud (242), Wings Of Eagles at The Beeches Stud (241), Walk In The Park at Grange Stud (235), Soldier Of Fortune at The Beeches Stud (224), Affinisea at Whytemount Stud (209), Sea The Stars at Gilltown Stud (206), Idaho at The Beeches Stud (204) and Berkshire at Kedrah House Stud (201).
- Copies of the Weatherbys Return of Mares can be purchased via this link, or via Lauren Beetson (lbeetson@weatherbys.co.uk) +44 (0)1933 440077 or Annette Doyle (adoyle@weatherbys.ie) +353 45 879 979.
- The 2020 Return of Mares and 2020 Return of Mares Supplement costs £64/€80 inc. p&p.
- The GSB Fact Book E-Edition 2020 will be available free online from mid-January 2021. The 2019 Fact Book is available here.