Many will argue that he was the best racehorse there’s ever been, and certainly he was the best in the world for two seasons a decade ago, and now – after his sixth crop of runners as a sire – Frankel has moved into a realm so few greats on the track have achieved in the breeding shed, for in 2021 he was the world’s outstanding stallion.
In the third part of our four-part series comparing the TRC Global Rankings with those at the start of 2021, James Willoughby collates the data specific to the last 12 months to highlight the movers and shakers at the top of the Sires standings.
You can read the Jockeys’ review here and the Trainers’ review here. Our look at the Horses’ category will be published next week.
This was the Sires’ Top Ten on January 1, 2021:
And this is the Top Ten in the latest rankings:
This is the data specific to 2021:
ANALYSIS
The 2021 World Sire of the Year is Frankel. One of the greatest racehorses of all time, he has always produced standout data at stud and is making an inexorable rise to the same world #1 slot he owned as a horse at the beginning of the TRC era.
The late Prince Khalid Abdullah’s pride and joy ranked second in G1 wins in 2021 to our current world #1 stallion, Deep Impact, but wins came at a higher strike rate and were harder-earned than that of the deceased Japanese phenomenon; the latter still enjoys a numerical superiority in his home country that no stallion can rival in the European theatre.
Frankel produced eight individual G1 winners, who won 14 top-level races between them: Adayar (2 G1 wins, best TRC 126), Alpinista (3, 116), Converge (1, 114), Hungry Heart (2, 117), Hurricane Lane (3, 125), Inspiral (1, 114), Snow Lantern (1, 118) and Wild Beauty (1, 109). He improved from #10 at the start of the campaign to #4 in the latest rankings.
Deep Impact, who died in 2019, had another productive campaign with his runners. He had 11 individual G1 winners, headed by Japan Cup hero Contrail (TRC 126) and the brilliant mare Gran Alegria, who won twice, including another Mile Championship (TRC 128, her career-best effort.)
Having started the campaign as world #1, the all-time great Galileo ended it #3. He died on July 10 to great reverence around the Thoroughbred racing world. Compared with most stallions, 23 Group wins among his stock would count as a superb year, but for him it was less than in his brilliant prime. It would be no surprise if Frankel’s sire left us with some other great champion among his last few crops. Either way, he is bound to be remembered as one of the most potent progenitors in racing history.
Dubawi moved up from #3 to #2 during 2021 by producing the most Group/Graded winners in the world with 34. Surprisingly, his stock registered only seven G1 wins, but three came at the Breeders’ Cup via Turf hero Yibir (TRC 122), Mile winner Space Blues (122) and eventful Juvenile Turf scorer Modern Games (115) – the first time in the history of the event that a stallion has registered a hat-trick.
Juddmonte Farms did not just have the success of Frankel to celebrate. Top-class miler Kingman made further strides into the world’s elite during 2021 with data specific to the year that we ranked fourth overall. Champion miler Palace Pier (TRC 127) added three G1 wins to his resume, helping his sire climb to world #5.
On dirt, Into Mischief confirmed himself the leading producer overall with 22 wins and rose from #9 to #7 with only six brilliant turf stallions ahead of him in our overall classifications. His best runners were the leading filly Gamine (2 G1 wins, TRC 118) and outstanding G1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Life Is Good (129).
The 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver really emerged for WinStar Farms in 2021. His 13 wins included no fewer than four G1s from the top U.S. mare Letruska (TRC 116), but his record is bolstered no end by his exploits in South America, which are very much for real and not to be underestimated.
Peruvian superstar Super Nao (3 G1 wins, TRC 116) was his best runner, Super Turco (110) added another G1 there, while Lindalevesolta annexed the G1 Gran Premio Estrellas Juvenile Fillies (104) in Argentina. Super Saver is now world #22 overall, having produced data specific to 2021 that we considered the ninth-best of any sire.