Value Sires Part IV: The Power to Succeed

Wandering Eyes · Thursday at 02:05 PM

There are doubtless decisions still to be made and deals to be struck for this year's matings with many breeders taking to the roads since the start of this new year for both the official stallion trails and informal stud visits.

For this last part in our series on value sires for 2025 it is worth restating that value is very much subjective and depends on a number of different factors, including whether the buyer of the nomination is breeding to race or to sell.

This final chapter, for stallions advertised at less than €10,000, covers a broad spectrum of names but let's start with an old favourite, Bated Breath (GB), who is now back where he started in 2013 at £8,000 and just over half his fee of two years ago. Now 18, the Juddmonte homebred is simply a dependable selection: a fast, well-bred horse who has received a reasonably consistent level of support though his 12 seasons to date. When it comes to stakes winners, his fillies outnumber the colts 18 to eight and it would be no surprise to see him make some inroads as a broodmare sire in years to come, just as his sire Dansili (GB) did.

There was encouragement to be drawn from the start made by Newsells Park Stud resident Without Parole (GB) with his first runners in 2024. From that first crop of 52 foals, 36 have made it to the racecourse and there have been 13 winners to date. They include the black-type performers Sea To Sky (Ire) and Fiery Lucy (GB), who was three lengths behind Lake Victoria (Ire) when fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf after being beaten by only a neck in a Group 3 at the Curragh. We can expect to see more from the offspring of this son of Frankel (GB) in 2025 and his fee remains at a reasonable £8,000.

Make Believe (GB) started with a bang when producing the top-class and durable Mishriff (Ire) in his first crop and, while he is yet to come up with another of that calibre, he is a stallion steadily compiling a decent portfolio from relatively small crops in his second, third and fourth years (58, 45 and 56 foals respectively). He's a balanced individual, easy on the eye, and he was responsible for seven new stakes winners in 2024. The Ballylinch Stud sire is worth examining more closely, especially at his lowest fee yet of €8,000.

We featured news of Bearstone Stud in Monday's TDN and it is worth reiterating that Dream Ahead, one of the farm's three stallions, has his first crop of British-conceived two-year-olds on the track this year. As that implies, the son of Diktat (GB), a rare representative of the Godolphin Arabian line remaining at stud, has done the rounds a bit and stood in Ireland at Ballylinch and in France at Haras de Grandcamp before settling in Shropshire. He is the perfect fit for Bearstone, which has tended to cut its cloth on the speedier side of things. With four Group 1 winners to his name, he remains worthy of support at £6,500, and don't bet against him coming up with another good sprinter.

First Runners in 2025

Alkumait (GB), the half-brother to 2,000 Guineas hero Chaldean (GB), will attempt to keep his family in the spotlight when his first two-year-olds hit the track this year. The son of Showcasing (GB) was a decent juvenile himself and won the G2 Mill Reef Stakes for Shadwell and Marcus Tregoning but failed to shine beyond that. He's down to €3,000 at Capital Stud this year, from €5,000, and has 59 two-year-olds to run for him.

Another stallion whose offspring may be quick out of the blocks is Mickley Stud's Ubettabelieveit (Ire). By Kodiac (GB), the G2 Flying Childers winner remains at £5,000 and has 80 youngsters to go into bat for him this season.

First-Crop Yearlings

Using a stallion at this stage of his career means that any foal born next year comes in the season of the sire's first runners and, if you have a foal to sell, you will either look a genius or be friendless come November. It's one of the great unknowable aspects of the business.

You may well have a decent chance with Perfect Power (Ire), who has been the standout performer to date for his sire Ardad (Ire) and, if the clamour for his first foals was anything to go by, there are plenty banking on the fact that he will make a similarly smart start to his own stud career. He was tough and brilliant at two, winning four of his seven outings that year, including the G2 Norfolk Stakes, G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park. That record alone would have been enough to see him whisked off to stud there and then but, thankfully, he was back at three to win the G3 Greenham Stakes first up. Demonstrating perfectly the reasoning behind the formation of the G1 Commonwealth Cup, Perfect Power posted a game performance in the 2,000 Guineas, finishing seventh of the 15 starters over a trip just beyond his reach. But back at Ascot, in his sprinting comfort zone, he added a third Group 1 to his CV. His fee this year of £7,500 is half that of his first year, and it is enticing set against the £42,427 average (£31,500 median) for his 27 foals sold at the end of 2024.

Overbury Stud, which launched the career of the above-mentioned Ardad, now has another young stallion of similar ilk in its midst in his fellow Flying Childers winner Caturra (Ire). There is now little uncertainty as to the merits of his sire Mehmas (Ire) – and, let's face it, not many people would have been able to predict his prowess at the equivalent stage in Mehmas's career. The quest is now on to see which of his sons will show similar merit and there is a growing cohort of them at stud. Last December, Caturra's first foals caught the eye of a number of 'judges' (you know who you are) who, anecdotally, deemed them to look like fairly precocious types, as one might expect. Caturra's own juvenile season included three wins from eight starts for Clive Cox, as early as May and including that Group 2 at Doncaster. He ran another seven times at three and, though winless that year, bagged another two group placings. He's at £5,000, having opened at £6,500, and he too could be one to side with this year.

It is harder to find classy middle-distance types in this bracket – though of course there's nothing to stop Flat breeders from using any of those who are marketed as jumps stallions. One who falls into that category at the National Hunt-aligned Haras de la Hetraie is Mare Australis (Ire), who is available at €4,500. If you're in France this weekend for the Route des Etalons try to make time to get across to Pascal Noue's establishment as this gorgeous liver chestnut is worth a look (plus, last time TDN paid a visit on this open weekend, Hetraie was offering delicious crepes to visitors).

The winner of the G1 Prix Ganay and G2 Prix de Chantilly in the livery of his breeder Gestut Schlenderhan, this son of Australia (GB) should be capable of siring Flat stayers and jumpers alike.

First Foals Imminent

All the excitement at Sumbe this year surrounds Charyn (Ire) but don't forget the stud's other son of Dark Angel (Ire). There's something rather bonny about Angel Bleu (Fr) but to say that almost does him a disservice. He's solid, and of a slightly neater stamp than Charyn, and what a terrific racehorse he was for Marc Chan and Ralph Beckett.

At two, he won at every distance up to a mile, beginning his career over the minimum trip on April 9 and ending that season in October with back-to-back Group 1 wins in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and Criterium International, having also won the G2 Vintage Stakes. His three runs at three could have meant that he was written down as a top two-year-old who didn't really train on, but that was refuted by his return at four to win Haydock's Spring Trophy and the G2 Celebration Mile. With some pretty stellar names close up in his pedigree, there's a lot to like about Angel Bleu at €8,000.

Similar comments apply to the Aga Khan Studs' Erevann (Fr), who is also at €8,000 in his second season. As a son of Dubawi (Ire) out of a top-class racemare, in his case the Classic winner Ervedya (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), he has naturally drawn comparisons with his stud-mate Zarak (Fr). The latter will be a hard act to follow but Erevann won't fail for a lack of support. With 168 mares in his first book he was second only to Ace Impact (Ire) among the newcomers in France last year.

Also about to embark on his second covering season in France is the G1 Champion Stakes winner Bay Bridge (GB). A sizeable and good-looking son of New Bay (GB), he is at Haras du Mesnil, where he will have been backed by a decent number of the Devin family's home mares among others, and is sensibly priced at €6,000.

New to the Scene

Staying in France temporarily, Haras de Beaumont has had a new stallion in each of its first three seasons in existence, and Sealiway (Fr) and Ace Impact (Ire) have been the busiest freshmen in their respective years. It would not be a surprise to see Puchkine (Fr) follow suit, and not just because Mathieu Alex is one of the most gifted salesmen on the scene. It is a shame we didn't see a bit more of Puchkine on the track as his victory in the G1 Prix Jean Prat left quite an impression. Alain Jathiere's homebred son of Starspangledbanner (Aus) had flown a little under the radar to that point but he had won both his starts at two and picked up some listed black type before being tried in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains. He starts at €8,500.

The team at Ballyhane Stud must have been pleased with the start made by Sands Of Mali (Fr), who had 21 winners from 48 first-crop runners in 2024, including the Listed winners Ellaria Sand (GB) and Ain't Nobody (Ire). He has been at €5,000 in the last three seasons and is currently listed as private, and he has a new friend in the Ballyhane stallion yard in Sakheer (Ire). By the late Zoffany (Ire), Sakheer was the easy winner of the G2 Mill Reef Stakes for Roger Varian and KHK Racing just over a fortnight after he broke his maiden by six lengths at Haydock. Ireland is not short of new stallions this year, unlike Britain, but Sakheer will almost certainly have plenty of backers at €6,500.

Movers

It is easy to lose track of stallions so here's a reminder of two to have left Britain to stand in Ireland in the last year or so. Mayson (GB), who spent 11 years at Cheveley Park Stud, is now in his second year with Oak Lodge Stud. A July Cup winner who has sired a July Cup (and King's Stand) winner, he is available at €4,250.

Meanwhile, Gordon Doyle has now taken charge of former National Stud and Manton Park stallion Advertise (GB) at his Knockmullen House Stud. Doyle's sensible and honest appraisal of the treble Group 1 winner is worth reading here. The son of Showcasing (GB) is now available for €5,000 having been priced at £25,000 in his first three years.

Value Sires Podium

GOLD
Perfect Power, Darley, £7,500
Yes, it's a risky year to use him, but that market confidence should roll over and he is now very reasonably priced.

SILVER
Angel Bleu, Sumbe, €8,000
Don't you forget about me, as Jim Kerr once sang. Charyn may be shiny and new but Angel Bleu was also a highly talented racehorse with a strong pedigree who should not be overlooked at this price.

BRONZE
Make Believe, Ballylinch Stud, €8,000
In the quiet achiever category, he too offers value at this lower fee.

In case you missed the earlier parts of our Value Sires series for 2025, they are available here:

Part I: €50,000 and up

Part II: €20,000 to €49,999

Part III: €10,000 to €19,999