Sire Match Game: Pairing With Top-Earning Athletes

Floyd Mayweather image courtesy of WikiMedia Commons/Chamber of Fear
Horses are outstanding athletes with incredible earning potential both on the racetrack and in the breeding shed after their careers are over. Professional athletes also are incredibly well compensated.
When I once mentioned early in my sports writing career that I thought salaries in baseball were getting outrageous, somebody explained to me that there are more qualified brain surgeons than there are left-handed pitchers who can toss a baseball 100 mph. Likewise, in horse racing the market dictates how high of a stud fee a sire can demand.
For this feature we took a look at the top-earning athletes in 2014, according to Forbes, by salary/winnings and compared them to the sires who took the same spot on the 2014 Blood-Horse general sire list, and there were quite a few similarities.
We did not consider endorsements for athletes and, likewise, we did not consider stud fees for the stallions, but focused instead on progeny earnings. Of course, in reality, stud fees generate far more money for stallion owners if you consider a sire standing for $30,000 who is bred to 120 mares would generate $3.6-million, and many sires stand for 15 years or more. Multiply that $3.6-million by 10 for top sire Tapit. It is important to note that many of the mares bred do not generate a stud fee. Shareholders breed their own mares to sires and race or sell the foals, which also can be quite lucrative, sometimes even more so.
Boxers took home two of the top spots among athletes in 2014, according to Forbes, led by Floyd Mayweather Jr. His opponent for what is being billed as the “Fight of the Century,” Manny Pacquiao, also ranked in the top five. Mayweather and Pacquiao will step into the ring on the night of the Kentucky Derby on May 2.
1. Floyd Mayweather — Tapit
Floyd Mayweather led all athletes by earnings with $105-million in 2014 according to Forbes and it really wasn’t all that close for the man they call “Money.” Speaking of money, Tapit has emerged as the money sire in North America and like Mayweather he led all sires by a wide margin by progeny earnings on the Blood-Horse general sire list in 2014 with record $16,813,516. Mayweather used to go by the nickname “Pretty Boy,” which also would be appropriate for Tapit, an eye-catching gray stallion who stands at Gainesway in Lexington, Ky. for $300,000. That’s right, $300,000 for the right to breed one mare to Tapit. Compared with Mayweather, that’s a bargain. Mayweather wouldn’t listen to an offer for a fight that didn’t start with at least a guaranteed $25-million. That’s the respect you get when you’ve gone your entire boxing career undefeated and very similar to the respect Tapit has earned as a stallion. He started out for a fee of $15,000 that dropped down to $12,500 for his third season, but results, like undefeated records, speak for themselves. Tapit’s leading earner in 2014 was champion 3-year-old filly Untapable, who banked $2,808,600.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo — Giant’s Causeway

Giant's Causeway image by Melissa Bauer-Herzog; Cristiano Ronaldo image designed by FreePik.com
When it comes to scoring goals, Cristiano Ronaldo is a machine. He averaged a little more than a goal a game in 2014 with 61 goals scored in 60 games played. Nicknamed “the Iron Horse” during his racing career, Giant’s Causeway, like Ronaldo, was known for his consistent excellence, which has carried over to the breeding shed with three years atop the Blood-Horse’s leading sire list (2009, 2010, 2012). Ronaldo earned $52-million in 2014 while playing for Real Madrid and also competing for the Portugal national team. Giant’s Causeway’s progeny banked $12,687,229, led by champion 2-year-old filly Take Charge Brandi ($1,620,126). Giant’s Causeway, who stands for $85,000 at Ashford Stud in Central Kentucky, also led all sires in North America by graded stakes winners. 
3. Matt Ryan — Kitten’s Joy
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan shares quite a bit in common with elite sire Kitten’s Joy. Just as Ryan is the face of the Falcons franchise, so, too, is Kitten’s Joy the signature stallion for Ramsey Farm in Central Kentucky. Ramsey Farm is the stallion station for 2013 and 2014 Eclipse Award-winning breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey. Ryan’s $103,750,000 contract extension signed in 2013 included $42-million guaranteed, which looks to be where Forbes came up with its figure. Kitten’s Joy — the 2013 leading general sire, according to Blood-Horse — ranked third in 2014 by progeny earnings with $11,713,264. Kitten’s Joy’s 25 stakes winners in 2014 topped all sires, while two-time Pro Bowl QB Matt Ryan connected on 28 TD passes last season. Looks like the Ramseys and breeders might be getting a little more bang for the buck out of Kitten’s Joy, who stands for $100,000, than the Falcons are getting from their face of the franchise. 
4. Lionel Messi — City Zip

City Zip image by Melissa Bauer-Herzog; Lionel Messi image designed by FreePik.com
If Cristiano Ronaldo is a machine, Lionel Messi is an artist when it comes to scoring goals. Few players have walked the earth who possessed better dribbling skills than Messi, who plays for Barcelona and also for the Argentine national team made $41.7-million in 2014 according to Forbes, ranked fourth among athletes. Like Messi, City Zip, who stands at Lane’s End in Central Kentucky for $40,000, was an elite performer on the racetrack as a Grade 1 winner and his progeny have proved extremely fast and athletic. In what was a career-best year for City Zip, he ranked fourth on the Blood-Horse sire list with $11,299,277 in earnings and tied for the most Grade 1 winners with four. Messi has been named the best player in the world four times and scored 54 goals combined during the 2014/2015 for Barcelona and Argentina. Dayatthespa, who earned $1,450,000 in 2014 and won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, headlined City Zip’s career year.
5. Manny Pacquiao — Candy Ride

Manny Pacquaio-Freddie Roach photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons/Frederick Manligas Nacino; Candy Ride image by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
For much of Manny Pacquaio’s career he has been a knockout artist, capable of dropping an opponent with one punch that is more explosive than heavy. Lane’s End sire Candy Ride, who stands for $60,000, also was known as an explosive runner — Hall of Famer Julie Krone famously referred to him as a “rocket ship” — and has a habit of landing the big one in the breeding shed. He’s sired standouts such as Grade 1 winners Misremembered, Sidney’s Candy, Twirling Candy, Capt. Candyman Can and El Brujo as well as, of course, champion Shared Belief. Candy Ride finished fifth on the Blood-Horse general sire list in 2014 with $10,338,913, led by Shared Belief’s $1,581,000. Pacquiao ranked fifth among athletes according to Forbes with $41-million in earnings. With Shared Belief back on track for 2015 and looking like the best racehorse on the planet, it could be a career year for Candy Ride. It could also be a career year for Pacquiao, who will fight Mayweather on May 2 in what will surely be the biggest payday of his career and his most important fight. 
6. Zlatan Ibrahimovic — Medaglia d'Oro

Zlatan Ibrahimovic photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons/Frankie Fouganthin; Medaglia d'Oro image by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, captain of the Swedish national soccer team, banked $36.4-million last year while playing for Paris Saint-Germain, current and five-time champions of Coupe de la Ligue in France. He is known as one of the best finishers and consistent goal scorers in the sport. Likewise, Medaglia d’Oro was an extremely consistent racehorse who finished first or second in 15 of 17 starts, including runner-up finishes in the 2002 Belmont Stakes and back-to-back editions of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He raced in eight different states and in Dubai. Ibrahimovic also has moved around quite a bit with professional stints with Malmo in Sweden's top league before becoming a world traveler with Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, A.C. Milan and Paris Saint-Germain. He scored the “Goal of the Year” in 2004 for Ajax. As a sire, Medaglia d’Oro also has proved capable of striking gold with 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. Medaglia d’Oro, who stands for $125,000 at Darley in Central Kentucky, has emerged as one of the most consistent sire and his progeny earned $9,162,175 in 2014, led by Coffee Clique with $627,223.
7. Radamel Falcao — Harlan’s Holiday
Radamel Falcao is a native of Colombia who plays striker for Manchester United. His best two-season run came from 2011-2012 through 2012-2013 for Atletico Madrid, for whom he netted 52 goals in those two seasons. Falcao, who earned $32.4-million last year according to Forbes, is nicknamed El Tigre. Harlan’s Holiday also has some cat in him as he is a grandson of breed-shaping sire Storm Cat. Harlan’s Holiday ranked seventh on the Blood-Horse general sire list in 2014 with $8,713,082  in progeny earnings, topped by Hakeem with $559,332.
8. Matthew Stafford — Lemon Drop Kid

Matthew Stafford photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons/Pete Sheffield; Lemon Drop Kid photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
Detroit Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford boasts a rifle arm and he tossed 22 touchdown passes last season. Lane’s End sire Lemon Drop Kid also had plenty of physical gifts — he won the 1999 Belmont Stakes — and for good reason. He is by elite sire Kingmambo out of one of the best female families in the stud book and he was represented by 20 stakes winners last year. According to Forbes, Stafford banked $31.5-million in 2014, good for eighth among athletes. Lemon Drop Kid, who stands for $40,000, finished eighth on the Blood-Horse general sire list with $8,564,675 in earnings, topped by Grade 1 winner Somali Lemonade with $556,775.
9. Kobe Bryant — Speightstown
Both Kobe Bryant and Speightstown are champions. Bryant won NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010) and finished ninth among athletes by earnings with $30.5-million in 2014. Speightstown, who stands for $80,000 at WinStar Farm in Central Kentucky, ranked ninth on the general sire list in 2014 with $8,511,611 in progeny earnings. His top runner was Seek Again with $512,896 in earnings. Speightstown won the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and was named that year’s champion sprinter. He was consistently excellent as a sprinter with 10 wins, two seconds and two thirds from 16 starts. Likewise, Bryant has put together a career in which he will absolutely be considered among the top players ever to play the game of basketball. 
10. Fernando Alonso — Hard Spun

Fernando Alonso photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons/Ryan Bayona; Hard Spun photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
Spanish Formula One driver Fernando Alonso earned $29-million in 2014 while racing for Scuderia Ferrari. He is racing for McLaren-Honda in 2015. A two-time world champion, Alonso started racing at the age of three, which just so happens to be the year Hard Spun made his biggest impact on the racetrack. In 2007, Hard Spun finished second in the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic and third in the Preakness Stakes. He won four graded stakes, including the Grade 1 King’s Bishop Stakes. Alonso ranked 10th on the Forbes list in 2014, the same spot that Hard Spun finished on the Blood-Horse general sire list with $7,808,773 in progeny earnings. Wicked Strong was Hard Spun’s top earner in 2014 with $1,361,610. He stands at Darley for $35,000.