With the death of Galileo, the world’s group of most expensive sires underwent a seismic shift. Galileo stood as a ‘private’ stallion for the last 14 years of his life, although off-the-record reports suggested that outside breeders were at one time happy to pay in excess of €500,000 to secure a nomination. As such, he cast a major shadow over this list as the world’s most expensive sire; now gone, that accolade falls to Darley’s flagship sire Dubawi.
Dubawi is one of three British-based sires, alongside Juddmonte’s Frankel and Kingman, to sit within the top four stallions. The outlier is Into Mischief, the dominant sire of the current era in America who heads a group of four Kentucky-based sires alongside Tapit, Curlin and Uncle Mo.
1. DUBAWI
2002 b Dubai Millennium - Zomaradah (Deploy)
Stands: Dalham Hall Stud, Newmarket, UK
Fee: £250,000
2nd on the TRC Global Sires Rankings
Dubawi enters his sixth season at £250,000, a figure that makes him the most expensive stallion at stud worldwide following the death of Galileo.
Now 20, the Darley lynchpin is at the stage of his career where his legacy has assumed relentless momentum, whether via his place as the source of a thriving sire line or a Classic-producing broodmare sire.
2021 again encapsulated what we have come to expect from Dubawi. He finished the year in third on both the European and British and Irish sires’ list yet no competitor could match his tally of 28 European stakes winners.
Along the way, there were six G1 winners worldwide, including Lord North, who set the balling in the G1 Dubai Turf at Meydan in March, and Creative Force, who captured the G1 British Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot in October. Then there were those remarkable few days in California where Yibir, Modern Games and Space Blues swept the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Juvenile Turf and Mile; until then, no other stallion had ever sired three Breeders’ Cup winners.
Dubawi’s career as it stands, with him having been at the top for so long, is self-fulfilling. He has long covered the cream of Europe’s broodmare population, particularly those belonging to Sheikh Mohammed and his associates, and in turn, those resulting foals tend to wind up in the best hands. As such, he doesn’t lack for top-level ammunition.
All the while, those strengths as a sire that originally propelled him to the top remain the same, notably that physical and mental soundness he tends to throw. Godolphin’s Space Blues is one particularly fine example, with his victories in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile, G1 Prix de la Foret and G2 City Of York Stakes illustrating a zest for competition that won him many admirers.
Among the 3yos, Creative Force and Yibir, G1 winners over 6f and 1m4f, stood out among a crop that also included a G2 winner on dirt in Rebel’s Romance and a Classic-placed miler in Master Of The Seas, who fell only a nose short of victory in the Newmarket 2000 Guineas.
And, while many of Dubawi’s progeny progress well with age and racing, there were five stakes winners among his 2yos, led by the G1 winners Modern Games and Albahr. An excellent afternoon on the Rowley Mile for Future Champions Day also featured G3 successes for Coroebus (Autumn Stakes) and Goldspur (Zetland Stakes with another Dubawi, Hafit, a neck away in third) as well as a fine second for Dubawi Legend in the G1 Dewhurst Stakes.
Granted, an otherwise outstanding stud career lacks the presence of an Epsom Derby winner, although it must be remembered that he featured as the damsire of the 2021 hero Adayar. And, with the likes of Modern Games and Goldspur to run for him next season, who’s to say that 2022 won’t be the year that rectifies that admission.
There was also further evidence during 2021 that Dubawi is developing into a sire of sires of real note. Night Of Thunder (sire of nine stakes winners in Europe in 2021) and New Bay (sire of four stakes winners in Europe in 2021 including G1 scorer Saffron Beach) consolidated their positions as two of Europe’s most exciting young sires, while, among the younger sons, Time Test (sire of four first-crop stakes winners) and Zarak (sire of two first-crop stakes winners) ended the year as leaders among the freshman generation. The market has propelled both to lofty commercial heights, with stock by Time Test selling for up to 400,000gns in 2021 and shares in Zarak realising €380,000 and €350,000.
With the other sons such as Too Darn Hot, whose first foals sold for up to 270,000gns, and Ghaiyyath waiting in the wings, it’s safe to assume that this sire line is only going to become more powerful as time goes on.
In the meantime, Dubawi will continue to be represented by an array of well-bred and expensive stock on the track. His yearlings sold for up to €2.4 million in 2021 and, as ever, include the progeny of an array of G1 winners and/or producers.
As ever, the stallion will be closely aligned to the fortunes of Godolphin in 2022. However, he also has a clutch of 2yos listed in training with Aidan O’Brien, among them a half-brother to Snowfall.
Coolmore have utilised Dubawi with greater regularity in recent years - the operation sent over 15 mares to him in 2021, including G1 winners and/or producers Athena, Ballydoyle, Fairyland, Forever Together, Found, Halfway To Heaven, Hermosa, Hydrangea, Magical, Meow, Minding, Rhododendron and Rushing Fall - and have already reaped some rewards via Concert Hall, a Dubawi filly out of Oaks heroine Was who struck in the G3 Weld Park Stakes at the Curragh. She is now priced at around 14/1 for the Epsom Oaks.
2. FRANKEL
2008 b Galileo - Kind (Danehill)
Stands: Banstead Manor Stud, Newmarket, UK
2022 fee: £200,000
4th on the TRC Global Sires Rankings
Finally, a British-based champion sire.
Thanks to a total of £5,262,659, Juddmonte’s Frankel lands his first British and Irish champion sires’ title. Not only that, he also reigns as Europe’s leading sire by virtue of £7,669,782 in earnings.
Frankel, whose fee has been raised from £175,000 to £200,000, fills the void off the back of a drought that stretches back to 1987, when Mill Reef posthumously landed the second of his two British and Irish championships. In fact, the British and Irish championship has been won by only five British-based stallions since 1971 and therefore Frankel joins an extremely select collection that consists of the dual champions Mill Reef and Great Nephew as well as Queen’s Hussar, sire of Brigadier Gerard, and Kris, who until now was the last horse to be crowned champion while still alive - and that was back in 1985.
It was always going to take a performance of great magnitude to dethrone Galileo from his place as leading sire, a title he has assumed on 12 occasions. And some would argue that there is no more appropriate horse to do that than his best son, Frankel, the unbeaten winner of 14 races, including ten at G1 level. In turn, that record allowed him a wealth of opportunity from some of the world’s leading players, in particularly his owner-breeder Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms, whose depth and quality of broodmare band has been key to the successful launch of many of its previous stallions.
It is remarkable to think now that the early days of his stud career were played out against a backdrop of commercial suspicion. Thankfully he has gone on to prove all his doubters wrong; granted, he has been aided by a host of high-performing mares but, in return, his is a record that contains 83 stakes winners, 20 of them at G1 level.
There were eight new G1 winners in 2021 led by Godolphin’s Derby and King George hero Adayar and his excellent stablemate Hurricane Lane, winner of the Irish Derby, Grand Prix de Paris and St Leger. Both came into their own during their Classic season and, given the physical scope that each possess, appear poised for a high-profile 4yo season.
Similarly, 3yo Snow Lantern progressed from a Newbury maiden win to take the G1 Falmouth Stakes. Among the older horses, Kirsten Rausing’s homebred Alpinista enjoyed an outstanding season as winner of the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin, Grosser Preis von Bayern and Preis von Europa.
It wasn’t all just about Frankel’s older runners, however. Equally adept at throwing a quality 2yo, he was represented by five stakes winners in that department during 2021, led by the unbeaten G1 Fillies’ Mile heroine Inspiral, now favourite for both the 1000 Guineas and Oaks, and Canadian G1 winner Wild Beauty.
Overall, 2021 featured 22 stakes winners across Europe - only Dubawi sired more - who between them won 37 stakes races, a total that no other stallion could touch. In turn, he maintains an excellent strike rate of 11 percent Group winners to runners.
All the while, Frankel remains a sire of serious international significance.
For example, an eyecatching record in Australia includes G1 winners Hungry Heart, successful in last season’s Australian Oaks and Vinery Stud Stakes, and Converge, winner of the J J Atkins Stakes.
Similarly, he is keenly sought after in Japan, where he has been represented by G1 winners Grenadier Guards, Mozu Ascot and Soul Stirring.
2021 was also the year that Frankel emerged as a broodmare sire of note. Given the quality of mare that has come his way since his retirement to stud, he was always going to appeal as a potential leader in that category and so far the signs are promising as highlighted by 2yo representatives such as Noble Truth, runner-up in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, G3-placed Juncture and dual winner Tolstoy. Noble Truth and Tolstoy are both sons of Kingman.
Now the next chapter, Frankel as a sire of sires, is due to be written. Sons of Frankel are at stud worldwide, ranging from G1 winners Cracksman and Without Parole in Britain to Elarqam in France and Mozu Ascot in Japan. The first to come under the microscope in Europe is dual G1 Champions Stakes winner Cracksman, whose first 2yos run in 2022.
3. INTO MISCHIEF
2005 b Harlan’s Holiday - Leslie’s Lady (Tricky Creek)
Stands: Spendthrift Farm, Kentucky, USA
Fee: $250,000 (£185,000)
7th on the TRC Global Sires Rankings
In Into Mischief’s world, records are there to be broken.
It is part of racing folklore how, despite retiring having struck at G1 level as a 2yo, he had to overcome a market disregard - at one time returning a crop of only 26 foals off a fee of $10,000 - to break through as North America’s flagship sire. Not one of his first four crops consisted of more than 50 foals, yet such was his immediate success that today he is arguably the most sought-after stallion in America; books of 250 and 214 in 2020 and 2021, as well as a yearling average of $400,108, would attest to that.
Why? Well as far as excellence is concerned, Into Mischief keeps raising the bar. He has reigned as North America’s champion sire since 2019, when the title was secured with a record total of $18,881,073. That record didn’t last for long, however, as the 2020 title was secured with $22,104,773 in earnings, nearly double that of his closest pursuer, Tapit.
Yet the 2021 season propelled Into Mischief to new heights. Once again, he leads the way on a record figure, this time with an incredible $24,349,147. No other stallion can match his tally of 258 winners - next best is Munnings on 167 - or his total of 71 black-type performers and 29 black-type winners, 13 of them at Graded stakes level.
Some of the better Into Mischief runners certainly have an air of brilliance to them. Daughter Gamine is a good example, having won five G1s, including last year’s Ballerina Handicap and Derby City Distaff Stakes. Then there is Life Is Good, who broke through at the top level with a near 6-length win in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Haskell Invitational winner Mandaloun, the stallion’s leading earner of 2021 who could yet be awarded the Kentucky Derby, and Carter Handicap hero Mischevious Alex were other G1 winners to contribute to Into Mischief’s outstanding season.
Life Is Good and Mandaloun hail from a 2018 crop that was bred before Into Mischief made the leap to 6-figure stallion. So far, it contains 16 stakes winners, while his 2yo crop, which were bred off $100,000, has yielded three, led by G2 Chandelier Stakes heroine Ain’t Easy.
With a market now keen to make the most of Into Mischief, American breeders have been quick to throw their weight behind his early sons to stud, and the signs are encouraging. Spendthrift Farm’s Goldencents, one of the first major winners for his sire who won back-to-back Breeders’ Cup Dirt Miles, is a proven G1 stallion and was North America’s leading second-crop sire of 2020. Another G1 scorer, Practical Joke, lies in second on the 2021 leading first-crop sires’ list as the sire of 24 winners, including an impressive six at stakes level.
There are also several heavyweight sons in the pipeline, including WinStar Farm’s G1 Florida Derby winner Audible, whose first weanlings averaged $108,065 at the winter sales, and the 2020 Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic hero Authentic, who covered 229 mares in his first season at Spendthrift at a fee of $70,000.
Such has been the rapid rise of Into Mischief that his latest crop of 2yos were bred when he stood for $150,000. Having stood for $225,000 in 2021, he stands at a career high of $250,000 for 2022.
4. KINGMAN
2011 b Invincible Spirit - Zenda (Zamindar)
Stands: Banstead Manor Stud, Newmarket, UK
2022 fee: £150,000
5th on the TRC Global Sires Rankings
Kingman commences his third season at £150,000 having fielded 21 stakes winners in 2021, 11 of whom won in Europe.
Kingman’s rise to stardom at stud has been rapid and 2021 further consolidated his place as one of Europe’s elite. For starters, there were three G1 winners on three different continents. In Europe, Palace Pier marched towards another miling championship with victories in the G1 Lockinge Stakes, Queen Anne Stakes and Prix Jacques les Marois. Over in the U.S., where Kingman has traditionally long fared well, Domestic Spending captured the G1 Manhattan Stakes and Turf Classic, while in Japan, Schneill Meister landed the G1 NHK Mile Cup.
Among the 2yos, Noble Truth was a listed winner and ran second in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere.
A multiple G1-winning miler himself, the son of Invincible Spirit invariably sealed victory with a telling change of gear, an attribute that has also come to set many of his better runners apart from their rivals. It is an aspect to Kingman that makes his progeny particularly appealing to the American market, where the ability to quicken off fast ground is desirable. Indeed, American buyers, notably Mike Ryan and Chad Brown, were quick to target his stock at the European yearling sales and have since been well rewarded through the likes of Domestic Spending, G2 winners Public Sector, Serve The King and Technical Analysis, alongside the G2-placed Good Governance.
Kingman was understandably again on the radar of American buyers at the 2021 round of yearling sales, in particular Mike Ryan, who came away with five youngsters out of Tattersalls’ October Book 1 sale alone. Leading the way overall, however, was a colt out of the G2 winner Turret Rocks, who was knocked down to MV Magnier and Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm at 1,100,000gns.
With a sizeable crop of expensively produced 2yos to run for him this year, Kingman is in the perfect position to keep that strong early momentum going. He heads into 2022 with a deep international fanbase to support him, something that will also stand some of his early sire sons, notably Coolmore’s Calyx and Haras d’Etreham’s Persian King, in good stead.
5. TAPIT
2001 gr Pulpit - Tap Your Heels (Unbridled)
Stands: Gainesway Farm, Kentucky, USA
2022 fee: $185,000 (£136,500)
10th on the TRC Global Sires Rankings
Now 21, Tapit heads into his 18th season at Gainesway Farm off the back of another excellent year, which was headlined by the top 3yos Essential Quality and the brilliantly exciting Flightline.
Godolphin’s Essential Quality entered his Classic season off the back of a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and went on to enjoy a glittering summer with a sweep of the G1 Belmont, G2 Jim Dandy and G1 Travers Stakes. There was also another high-class 3yo in Greatest Honour, who leapt into the Kentucky Derby reckoning with early-season victories in the G3 Holy Bull and G2 Fountain Of Youth Stakes. The Shug McGaughey-trained colt has been absent since late March but remains in training for 2022.
Waiting in the wings, however, was Flightline, a $1 million yearling who had turned heads early in the year with a pair of romps in maiden and allowance company in California. Finally let loose in G1 company by trainer John Sadler on December 26 in the Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita, Flightline lived up to his lofty reputation with another dominant display, never coming off the bridle to saunter home almost 12 lengths clear. It was a performance that drew universal praise - and one that had observers wondering if this was the best North American 3yo of 2021.
All of which helped Tapit, a former 3-time champion North American sire and the sire of 28 G1 winners in total, end the year with over $14.2 million in earnings to ensure his place within the top five for the 11th consecutive year.
Tapit’s 3yo and 2yo crop of 2021 were bred when the stallion stood for a career high of $300,000. He slipped to $200,000 in 2020 and was trimmed to his current level of $185,000 for 2021.
Tapit’s reputation as a sire of sires has taken a giant leap forward in recent years, something that has helped maintain his strong commercial appeal.
In 2021, his leading sire son was Constitution, who initially leapt to prominence as the sire of 2020 G1 Belmont and Travers Stakes winner Tiz The Law out of his first crop and then of last year’s G1 Cigar Mile winner Americanrevolution out of his second. He is North America’s leading third-crop sire by earnings (almost $10.2 million) while another son, Tapiture, heads that department by number of winners (130).
Of Tapit’s other sons, Tonalist was represented by a first-crop G1 winner in Country Grammar, and Cupid and Mohaymen have sired 22 and 20 first-crop winners respectively. Frosted has also made a fine start as the sire of Group and Graded stakes winners in both hemispheres.
6. CURLIN
2004 ch Smart Strike - Sherriff’s Deputy (Deputy Minister)
Stands: Hill ’n’ Dale Farm, Kentucky, USA
2022 fee: $175,000 (£129,000)
12th on the TRC Global Sires Rankings
Hill ’n’ Dale Farm stalwart Curlin remains at $175,000, the figure he has commanded since 2020.
His fee doesn’t shift despite the presence of no fewer than five G1 winners in 2021 - no other American stallion could match that tally.
There was 4yo Idol, the G1 Santa Anita Handicap winner who hails from the same first Hill ’n’ Dale-sired crop as his 2020 star Paris Lights. Meanwhile, a 3yo division that consists of ten stakes winners was led by the exceptional Malathaat, winner of the G1 Kentucky Oaks, Alabama and Ashland Stakes, and her rival Clairiere, winner of the G1 Cotillion Stakes, alongside the G1 Florida Derby winner Known Agenda. And there is already plenty for his supporters to look forward to next year given the 2yo generation includes a G1 winner in Grace Adler, successful in the Debutante Stakes, and G2 scorer Nest.
Earnings of approximately $15.3 million placed Curlin in third on the 2021 North American leading sires’ list. Like Tapit, he is a regular within the top echelons of that table, having finished in the first six in six of the past seven years.
2021 was also the year that his G1-winning son Connect leapt to prominence as an exciting young sire thanks to 27 first-crop winners, among them a G1 scorer in Rattle N Rolle, and the earners of over $2 million.
The next son to come under scrutiny is Hill ’n’ Dale’s own Good Magic, the champion 2yo of 2017, whose first yearlings sold for up to $775,000.
7= SEA THE STARS
2006 b Cape Cross - Urban Sea (Miswaki)
Stands: Gilltown Stud, Ireland
2022 fee: €150,000 (£126,000)
6th on the TRC Global Sires Rankings
Sea The Stars holds steady at €150,000 for the third consecutive season.
From first-crop stars such as Taghrooda and Sea The Moon to Epsom Derby hero Harzand and iconic stayer Stradivarius, Sea The Stars has long been highly regarded as a reliable source of elite talent, particularly over middle-distances. But that’s not to say a good miler won’t come his way. There was an early example back in 2016 in the G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Zelzal and the bar was raised again in 2021 by the brilliant Baaeed, a colt bred on the same Kingmambo cross as Zelzal whose unbeaten campaign was capped by wins in the G1 Prix Jacques les Marois and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes - a remarkable feat for a horse who didn’t make his debut until June 2021.
Another 3yo, Teona, also captured the G1 Prix Vermeille while the evergreen Stradivarius won his third G2 Lonsdale Cup. Each stays in training for 2022.
With the earnings of around £5.3 million in Europe to his credit, Sea The Stars wound up in second on the leading European sires list - and ahead of several big-hitters, notably Dubawi and his own illustrious half-brother, Galileo. He also hit the milestone of 20 European stakes winners for the year, a figure that falls behind only Dubawi (28) and Frankel (22).
The typical Sea The Stars can be effective at 2 but they are generally scopey horses that progress with racing, and plenty have come to thrive as older performers. Crucially, he can be relied upon to throw sound stock.
Sea The Stars already has one proven sire son to his credit in Lanwades Stud’s Sea The Moon, the sire of 18 stakes winners, while Haras de Bouquetot’s Zelzal has made bright start with his first 2yos.
His line is also an emerging force within the National Hunt sphere, notably via sons Affinisea and Crystal Ocean, who covered over 600 mares between them in 2022.
7= WOOTTON BASSETT
2008 b Iffraaj - Balladonia (Primo Dominie)
Stands: Coolmore, Ireland
2022 fee: €150,000 (£126,000)
43rd on the TRC Global Sires Rankings
One of the biggest bloodstock stories of 2020 was Coolmore’s multi-million-euro acquisition of Wootton Bassett.
Winner of the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere for Richard Fahey, Wootton Bassett’s early stud career at Haras d’Etreham is one of those rags-to-riches tales that offers all breeders hope, with a first crop of 23 foals bred off a fee of €6,000, headlined by the champion Almanzor.
It was apparent early on that Wootton Bassett possessed the capability to upgrade his mares, and indeed his first five crops currently contain 18 stakes winners, all of whom were bred off fees in the €4,000 - €6,000 range. In addition to Almanzor, the list includes Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf heroine Audarya and G1 Prix de l’Abbaye scorer Wooded.
The question then is how good Wootton Bassett might turn out to be as his crops grow in size and quality. Not every stallion reacts as anticipated with a better level of mare, but the early signs suggest that Wootton Bassett won’t fall into that category.
His first €20,000 crop, bred in 2018, includes last season’s G1 Prix Saint-Alary winner Incarville and the G2-winning 2yo Chindit. Meanwhile, his 2019 crop, again bred off €20,000, has already thrown six stakes-winning juveniles, led by the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac scorer Zellie and G2 Royal Lodge Stakes winner Royal Patronage. Such a strong showing placed him in second behind Dark Angel on the leading European 2-year-old sires’ list.
All of which is excellent news for Coolmore, who installed the stallion at €100,000 for the 2021 season and strongly supported him with an array of high-performing mares that included the likes of Alexandrova, Awesome Maria, Best In The World, Bracelet, Clemmie, Fancy Blue, Immortal Verse, Life Happened, Peeping Fawn and Was.
Exceptional support was also forthcoming from several leading outside breeders, notably the Niarchos family, which sent G1 winner Albigna, the China Horse Club, which sent G1 producer Beatrix Potter, Watership Down Stud, which sent its multiple G1 winner The Fugue, and Juddmonte Farms, which sent Frankel’s half-sister Joyeuse and G1 winner Proviso.
Wootton Bassett heads into his 14th year on a firm upward trajectory. That is reflected in a new fee of €150,000, a raise that is unlikely to adversely affect his popularity.
9= UNCLE MO
2008 Indian Charlie - Playa Maya (Arch)
Stands: Ashford Stud, Kentucky, USA
2022 fee: $160,000 (£118,000)
11th on the TRC Global Sires Rankings
Uncle Mo’s fee has been trimmed by Coolmore America to $160,000 from $175,000. But that’s not to say that the operation’s Kentucky-based flagship sire had a moderate year. Far from it.
In Golden Pal, the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner, Uncle Mo is responsible for one of the fastest horses in the world. He belongs to Uncle Mo’s 2018 crop (bred off a fee of $150,000), while the 4yo crop included top dirt colt Yaupon, who captured the G1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga despite having to fend off the jaws of Firenze Fire in the closing stages.
The exploits of Golden Pal and Yaupon pushed Uncle Mo’s number of G1 winners to ten, while he is responsible for 77 stakes winners overall. It’s a varied list that ranges from top dirt 2yos - think Nyquist, Golden Pal and Gomo - to older turf performers such as Mo Town and Mo Forza, both winners of the Hollywood Derby.
What pushes Uncle Mo ahead of some of his contemporaries, however, is the immediate impact that he has made as a sire of sires.
The first wave of sons to stud included Nyquist, who sired G1-winning 2yos Vequist and Gretzky The Great in his first crop, the short-lived Laoban, the sire of G1 winner Simply Ravishing in his first crop, and fellow young stakes sire Outwork. Between them, they filled three of the top four places on the 2020 leading North American first-crop sires’ list.
Next in line is Coolmore’s Mo Town, whose first yearlings sold for up to $450,000 in 2021.
9= SIYOUNI
2007 Pivotal - Sichilla (Danehill)
Stands: Haras du Bonneval, France
2022 fee: €140,000 (£118,000)
19th on the TRC Global Sires Rankings
Another excellent year sealed a second consecutive French sires’ championship for Siyouni, who ends the year in fourth on the European sires’ list thanks to earnings in excess of £5 million.
In 2020, the driving force was Sottsass, who signed off his career with a victory in the Arc. A year on and it was another representative bred on the same Galileo cross in St Mark’s Basilica, praised by Aidan O’Brien as one of the finest colts to pass through Ballydoyle.
A 1,300,000gns yearling, St Mark’s Basilica had signed off his juvenile season with a win in the G1 Dewhurst Stakes yet was even more imperious at 3, when an unbeaten campaign yielded victories in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, Prix du Jockey Club, Eclipse Stakes and Irish Champion Stakes. As such, he has been installed at €65,000 at Coolmore and is due to cover a high-flying first book in 2022.
Bred when his sire was still relatively inexpensive at €45,000, St Mark’s Basilica is the high point of a body of work for Siyouni that also includes the 2020 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches heroine Dream And Do and the brilliant Laurens among six G1 winners. Overall, he is responsible for close to 60 stakes winners, the majority of them bred off fees ranging from €7,000 to €30,000.
Now, Siyouni is the domain of Europe’s elite breeders. His first €100,000 crop turn 2 in 2022 and were keenly sought after as yearlings last year, when 41 sold for an average of 201,780gns; a half-brother to top 2yo Angel Bleu led the way when selling for €1,500,000 to Oliver St Lawrence at the Arqana August Sale.
Breeders are now investing heavily in Siyouni’s sons at stud, in particular Coolmore, which is home to both St Mark’s Basilica and Sottsass. However, it is noteworthy how he has already become a broodmare sire of note, notably via this season’s G1-placed 2yos Times Square and Dr Zempf.
On the cusp ….
I Am Invincible remains Australia’s most expensive sire at A$220,000 (£117,000). Yarraman Park Stud’s flagship sire, who is responsible for ten G1 winners overall, has finished runner-up on the leading Australian sires’ list in every season since 2017-18 and currently lies in third on this year’s table with earnings of around A$7.8 million, a figure that was enhanced by the win of leading 3yo colt Home Affairs in the G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington in October.
However, in terms of winners, I Am Invincible leads the way, having been the first horse of the season to hit the 100 mark.
In Japan, the status of most expensive sire belongs for the first time to Epiphaneia, who surpasses Lord Kanaloa on a fee of Y18,000,000 (£116,500). The 2014 Japan Cup hero has hit the ground running at stud, siring Japanese champion 3yo filly Daring Tact, the 2020 Japanese Fillies Triple Crown winner, in his first crop and the top 3yo colt Efforia, successful in last year’s G1 Arima Kinen, Satsuki Sho and Tokyo Tenno Sho (Autumn), in his second.
As a result, the Shadai Stallion Station have increased his fee by 80percent for the 2022 season.
Shadai also welcomes the most expensive new recruit of 2022 in Triple Crown hero Contrail. The son of Deep Impact will stand his first season at Y12,000,000 (£78,000) following a championship career that consisted of five G1 wins including the Japan Cup and Japanese Derby.