Standout Sires Of Three-Year-Olds

[Wandering Eyes]

The 3-year-old. Racing lays down its greatest challenges for the 3-year-old, the age when all the Classics are contested. It’s the most competitive time in a horse’s career when most are still racing and all have had adequate time to mature. Moreover, the modern bloodstock market demands at the very least that stallions produce talented offspring no later than at the age of three. So why don’t we see more stallion classifications for sophomores, just like we do for juveniles? Here we have such a list, but confined to young British and Irish sires to focus on some rising stars. The leaders on our classification are just the types to deliver Classic winners that will go on improving as they get older. Plenty are already recognisable for their endeavours, but there are a few surprises as well.

Frankel (GB) needs no introduction. Armed with the very best mares, he’s certainly delivered statistically. The only gap–if you can even call it a gap–is the lack of more racehorses approaching the class of Cracksman. But with outstanding crops in the pipeline, that anomaly is sure to be taken care of in due course.

Darley’s Farhh (GB), whose mare numbers are controlled to help his fertility, made a big impression with relatively few runners. His eight 100-plus rated from only 22 runners were produced at a far better rate (36%) that was expected from his mares, who have produced 13% Timeform 100-plus rated runners with other sires.

Lope de Vega (Ire), meanwhile, is a bit of a surprise here, but only because his best-bred crop–produced on the back of the strong showing of his first 2-year-olds–is only three this season. His number of elite mares went from 35 in 2014 to 135 in 2015 and has stayed well over 100 ever since. We can expect even greater things from the son of Shamardal in the coming years. Like Farhh, he’s also outscoring his opportunities, as is Cheveley Park’s Intello (Ger), whose young career is epitomised by Young Rascal (Fr), who improved all year in 2018 to earn a Timeform rating of 125, the same mark as the Derby winner Masar (GB).

Like Frankel, Sea The Stars (Ire) has enjoyed top-class patronage from the outset and he’s delivering the type of racehorse that perhaps only his half-brother Galileo (Ire) can do better: a top-class mid-season middle-distance 3-year-old that just keeps on improving.

It should come as no surprise to see Nathaniel (Ire) feature prominently. Middle-distance runners were always going to be his game and they don’t come much better than the 134-rated Enable (GB). His number of elite mares covered rebounded significantly in 2018 and a fee rise for 2019 tells us all we need to know about the popularity of this 129-rated Group 1-winning son of Galileo.

Coolmore’s Camelot (GB) is also a sire destined to thrive as his stock mature. He’s made such a positive impression with his first 3-year-olds that his number of elite mares in 2019 ought to get back to the levels of 2014 when he served no fewer than 105. But this son of Montjeu will see plenty of consistency with 99, 84 and 75 elite mares in crops two, three and four. It doesn’t take too much imagination to see the G1 2000 Guineas and G1 Investec Derby winner coming up with a tip-top performer or two in the coming seasons.

If Farhh was a surprise entry on our table, then Cityscape (GB) certainly is. Standing at just £5,000, this 127-rated son of the top-class Selkirk clearly demands more attention after siring such good racehorses from limited opportunities. He covered only 12 elite mares in 2014, his first season at stud, compared to Frankel (122), Sea The Stars (77), Intello (73), Lope de Vega (35) and Farhh (27). In fact, all the sires on our list have had far greater access to elite mares. Like any sire with a future claim to greatness, Cityscape improves his mares no end. It’s a hugely significant effort on the part of the Overbury stallion.

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