2013 Stallions to Watch in 2014 and Beyond

With the first crop of 2013 sires seeing their first mares bred and their first crop of foals about to drop, we can take a look at how some of the younger, cheaper sires have attracted breeders. We all know Bodemeister would be in great demand. Pure speed and talent like that will always attract breeders, and his 173 mares bred this year clearly reflect that fact. But what about some cheaper alternatives? What else is out there for the (this?) little guy looking to make a profit?

We'll work in alphabetical order, so I'll start with Algorithms.

Algorithms, by Bernardini - Ava Knowsthecode, by Cryptoclearance

Standing for $7,500 at Clairborne Farm, Algorithms looks like a nice sire prospect. Bred to 119 mares this past year, he saw 12 go through the sales ring, with moderate success. No one is going to be jumping all over themselves to get to him, but there is good reason to believe that he should make a nice stallion. Ava Knowsthecode is a blue hen mare if there ever was one. Dam of Algorithms (G3 winner), Justin Phillip (G1 winner), Keyed Entry (G2 winner), and Successful Appeal (G3 winner), she no doubt is of enviable class. Additionally, she has foaled a dark bay or brown Tapit colt, which in and of itself is remarkable that he’s not grey. While sons of Bernardini at stud seem to be a dime a dozen (Stay Thirsty, To Honor and Serve, Wilburn, et al), none can claim to be from a dam as successful as Ava Knowsthecode.

Dialed In, by Mineshaft - Miss Doolittle, by Storm Cat

Standing for $7,500 at Darby Dan, Dialed In is a sneaky little guy. Mineshaft, not typically a sire of sires, is still a Horse of the Year by A.P. Indy, and that means something. But Mineshaft is also impeccably bred as his dam, Prospector’s Delite is by, you guessed it, Mr. Prospector. She’s also a multiple Grade 1 winner having won the Ashland etc. His dam is the Graded Stakes Placed Storm Cat mare Miss Doolittle. She is a quality producer, with a listed stakes winner and another earner of 6 figures amongst her foals. Plus she is well bred. A Storm Cat (young and fast) crossed with the influence of Blushing Groom (older and longer and grass) has a nice balance to it. But probably most importantly, Dialed In is one well put together horse. I know that he’s a deal for the right mare at $7.5k which clearly enticed breeders as he was bred to 154 mares. (And also his 2nd dam, Eliza, is bred remarkably like the great producer Terlingua, dam of Storm Cat. A very clever, well thought out cross was made when Allen Paulson bred this 2 year old Champion Filly)

The Factor, by War Front - Greyciousness, by Miswaki

War Front. That’s just about all we need to know here. The hottest sire in the world has his 2nd best stud prospect right here, and he stands for $15,000 at Lane’s End. While that is certainly not chicken scratch, it’s not bad considering his best prospect is Declaration of War and to breed to him you’re looking at almost $55,000 (plus airfare…). For me, the most important point behind The Factor’s prospects is that his female family has already produced a sire, and recently. His second dam, the stakes winner Skatingonthinice, produced Chief Seattle, 2nd in the BC Juvenile and the Champagne. While not a world beater in any sense, the fact that there is a sire in the recent female family speaks to the potency of their genes. While probably a bit too much money for my tastes considering The Factor never really shaped up to be the Classic runner I had hoped he would and the fact that he wasn’t really a miler, but a 7 furlong specialist, he should pack a punch in the breeding shed. With 135 mares bred and a median price of mares in foal of $76,000, we should see a number of his foals in the sales ring a year from now.

Bullet Train, by Sadler's Wells - Kind (IRE), by Danehill

What can be said about him that hasn’t already been said? Well, by me at least:

Bullet Train (GB) is by far the most intriguing on the list [of retirements to stud]. As a ¾ brother to Frankel (same dam, Galileo is a son of Sadler’s Wells) and as a Group 3 winner in his own right, he certainly brings a powerful family to the table. If I could work a deal with Wintergreen, I’d be interested, but I wouldn’t be willing to foot the bill on my own since the response to him could be pretty chilly in his first year(s). As a Euro turf horse that served as Frankel’s pacemaker, it’s had to get a read on his true viability here in the states. But that doesn’t mean his pedigree isn’t fantastic.

When I looked up how many mares he bred, I was pleasantly surprised. I expected a relatively low number, due to the fact that you can’t find him really anywhere when it comes to Nicks and other ratings. But when I saw that he bred 67 mares, that’s pretty good. I’m still high on him, but we’ll see how he pans out. There is no doubt that we will have to see a crop or two of his hit the track before being able to make a true determination, since I can almost guarantee his sales results will be less than fantastic.

h/t to the Jockey Club for mares bred numbers; to PedigreeQuery.com for most of my pedigree info; to Bloodhorse’s Stallion Register for prices and locations of stallions

*Two interesting statistics: The Green Monkey only bred 8 mares in 2013 while Horse of the Year and BC Classic Winner Invasor only bred 14.