Third-Crop Sires: Two of Top Four Already in Asia

Four sires stand out from the crowd among North American and European third-crop sires (first foals of 2015, first 4-year-olds in 2019)—or, should I say, sires that originally stood in North America or Europe.

With their second crops of 3-year-olds now well into the classic season, Take Charge Indy and Violence  in North America, and Camelot and Declaration of War (who actually stood just his first season in Ireland) in Europe, are the leading third-crop sires by cumulative progeny earnings and by black-type winners.

Declaration of War is ranked second in Europe and 10th in North America (the figures are identical). But Take Charge Indy was sold to South Korea after the 2016 breeding season before he ever had a runner—his last of three U.S. crops are now 2-year-olds—and Declaration of War has spent the 2019 season in Japan on a one-way ticket.

At this writing, Take Charge Indy maintains a lead of about $264,000 in cumulative progeny earnings, though Hill 'n' Dale's Violence, second by progeny earnings, leads North American third-crop sires in three important categories: black-type winners (13), black-type horses (24), and graded stakes horses (12). Take Charge Indy is second among North American sires with 10 black-type winners.

Spendthrift's Jimmy Creed  is next with eight and is tied for second with Take Charge Indy with 22 black-type horses. Shanghai Bobby, like Declaration of War an Ashford sire sent to Japan, has seven black-type winners, tied with WinStar's Paynter  and Overanalyze . Shanghai Bobby ranks fourth by black-type horses with 20.

Take Charge Indy and Violence have three graded stakes winners each, but Violence has 12 graded stakes horses, well clear in that category. Jimmy Creed (eight) is next, followed by Take Charge Indy and Darley's Animal Kingdom  with six each. Seven third-crop sires have a grade 1 winner, but none has more than one or more than two grade 1-placed horses.

Coolmore's Camelot dominates the European third-crop list and leads all NA/EU third-crop sires in black-type winners (16), group winners (nine), group horses (17), group 1 winners (three), and group 1 horses (five). Counted as a European sire, Declaration of War is second by cumulative progeny earnings and second or tied for second among European sires in all black-type categories.

Society Rock was Europe's leading freshman sire of 2017 but died before he ever had a runner. He still ranks third by cumulative earnings but will be overtaken before long by Intello, a son of Galileo who has rotated between Cheveley Park Stud in England and the Haras du Quesnay in France. Intello is also tied with Declaration of War with nine black-type winners. He is a clear third in Europe with 14 black-type horses and four group winners. As noted, only Take Charge Indy and Violence in North America have three graded stakes winners; also in Europe, Darley's Farhh, with quite small foal crops, has three group winners.

Second-Crop Sires: Spendthrift Duo Lead in North America

Spendthrift's Cross Traffic  was the surprise top freshman sire last year and remains the only North American second-crop sire to yet have a grade 1 winner, the 2018 champion 2-year-old filly, Jaywalk.

Also at Spendthrift, two-time Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Goldencents , from Into Mischief 's first crop, was runner-up on the freshman sire list. With sons By My Standards, the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby winner (G2) who also contended the Run for the Roses, and Mr. Money, the Pat Day Mile Stakes Presented by LG and E and KU (G3) winner representing him on the Kentucky Derby undercard, Goldencents has taken over the progeny earnings lead from Cross Traffic and is also the only North American second-crop sire with more than one graded stakes winner.

Cross Traffic still leads in black-type winners (six) and black-type horses (12). Goldencents is tied with Airdrie's Cairo Prince  for second in black-type winners (five) but edges him, 10 to nine, for second by number of black-type horses. WinStar's Fed Biz  also has nine black-type horses.

Three Chimneys Farm's Will Take Charge , a half brother to Take Charge Indy, is the only North American second-crop sire with more than two graded stakes horses; he has four.

The top three European second-crop sires by cumulative progeny earnings all have impressive black-type numbers as well. Juddmonte's Kingman, who had 10 black-type horses in May, has now tied the top 2018 European freshman sire, Coolmore's No Nay Never, with eight black-type winners and has edged ahead on the money list, though No Nay Never leads all NA-EU second-crop sires with 18 black-type horses; Kingman has 13.

Kingman is tied with Coolmore's Australia and England's Lanwades Stud's Sea The Moon with three group winners each, though Australia is a clear second by number of group horses (six) to No Nay Never's seven. Australia has three group 1-placed runners to lead that category, though Kingman, No Nay Never, and Coolmore's Ruler of The World join Cross Traffic as the only NA-EU second-crop sires to have sired a grade/group 1 winner so far.

Among European second-crop sires, there are five more promising sires who now all have between $900,000 to $1.2 million in progeny earnings: Charm Spirit, who rotates between England's Tweenhills and France's Haras de Bonneval; the Al Shaqab duo of Toronado and Olympic Glory, headquartered at France's Haras de Bouquetot; the aforementioned Sea The Moon; and another Quesnay sire, Anodin—France's top freshman sire of 2018 and, not incidentally, a full brother to Goldikova. 

Among North American second-crop sires—behind the top three of Goldencents, Cross Traffic, and Cairo Prince—another seven sires have progeny earnings over $1.3 million: Lane's End's Noble Mission ; New York's McMahon of Saratoga Farm's Central Banker ; Fed Biz and Will Take Charge, already mentioned; Coolmore's Verrazano ; Adena Springs' Mucho Macho Man ; and Three Chimneys' Strong Mandate , who had the first-time-out winner of Belmont's Astoria Stakes for 2-year-old fillies June 7. Just behind them are Florida's Ocala Stud's Uncaptured  and WinStar's Revolutionary , who is just a few dollars short of the $1 million mark in progeny earnings himself.

Strong Markets at Australian May Filly and Mare Sales

Australia's two big sales companies, Sydney-based Inglis & Son and Magic Millions, based on Queensland's Gold Coast, sold a combined 1,018 fillies and mares in their May sales, which grossed AU$137,604,500 and included 15 fillies or mares who sold for AU$1 million or more.

Magic Millions really dominates this segment of the market, selling 70% of the horses (709) for 75% of the gross (AU$104,110,000), including 11 of the 15 seven-figure sales. But Inglis revamped its Chairman's Sale, moving it away from the Easter Yearling Sale in April back to May, when it already has a weanling and broodmare sale, and 54 horses sold in that May 3 sale averaged AU$427,314, including four seven-figure sales. 

The auction sale of good race fillies as maiden mares, before they are covered, has become an increasingly important part of the mixed sale landscape over the past few years, and this is also the case in Australia, where six of the 15 seven-figure sales (40%) were of fillies or mares not covered. Of the nine sold in foal, four were covered by leading sire-in-waiting I Am Invincible; two were in foal to Snitzel, who is about to claim his third consecutive sire championship; and one each to Zoustar, American Pharoah , and top first-year covering sire Russian Revolution.

One other interesting observation is that, though three of the 15 seven-figure sales sold for AU$2 million or more, the top price was AU$2.3 million. There is a very well-defined auction marketplace in Australasia that is closely connected with the racing program but also reflects a clear distinction between racehorse owners and commercial breeders. This enables a more or less orderly transfer of fillies from racing to breeding stock but might also explain why there is a "ceiling" of about AU$3 million in the breeding stock sales.

But if more Australian-bred fillies start producing Investec Derby (G1) winners—as was the case with Anthony Van Dyck's dam, the Australian-bred Exceed And Excel mare Believe'N'Succeed this year—that ceiling might lift a little bit more, which would result in the Australasian sales becoming even stronger.

With only five mares sold in foal, of which two were seven-figure mares, Snitzel is the leading covering sire with an average of AU$880,000. I Am Invincible, the heir apparent (he recently broke the record for stakes winners in a season in Australia, now with 28 this season), ranks second with 15 mares grossing a total of AU$11,860,000 and averaging AU$790,667.

Two other sires with five or more sold in foal have averaged over AU$400,000, namely the venerable Fastnet Rock (six averaging AU$491,667) and the top young gun Zoustar, who had 22 mares in foal gross AU$9,610,000 and average AU$436,818. 

Thirteen sires in all had five or more in-foal mares sell for averages over AU$150,000. After the top four, five more are proven sires: Exceed And Excel (seven/avg AU$317,857); Written Tycoon (11/AU$289,545); top third-crop sire Pierro (12/AU$271,667); Sebring (18/AU$213,889); and the No. 3 second-crop sire, Spirit of Boom (seven/AU$205,000).

The two leading first-crop weanling sires, American Pharoah (12/AU$285,000) and Capitalist (41/AU$161,707) were the two top F2018 covering sires (from their second crops); and Russian Revolution (25/AU$254,800) and Merchant Navy (24/AU$220,521) were the two top sires who covered their first mares last season.

For more articles by Bill Oppenheim, APEX sire ratings for both Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and Brianne Stanley's Weekly Sales Ticker, please visit www.billoppnehim.com.