Several surprises among the sires whose statistics stood out in 2019

Sire achievement can be judged by several different measures, but many are unsatisfactory. The traditional benchmark, by which the British and Irish championship is still decided, is prize-money but that allows a handful of lavishly funded races to distort the picture.

Looking at volume of winners in isolation is not entirely adequate, as that does not take into account the quality of the product, while neither is number of Group winners a fair metric as it does not allow for opportunity.

Therefore, one of the most valuable tables is that available in the statistics section on this newspaper's website, which orders sires by percentage of progeny with a Racing Post Rating of 80, 100 or 115 and higher in Britain and Ireland. By that criterion, there is no hiding place for a stallion who has produced lots of useful performers but had plenty of ammunition to do so.

In the past year, nine sires had half or more of their offspring rated at least 80, about the mark needed to win a maiden or novice stakes of fair quality. It is not the highest standard to hold a stallion to, but it is a realistic target for trainers and owners to aim for and a potentially lucrative one too, when the resale market for horses with form in the book is so hot.

So, without further ado, here are the nine sires who attained that hallmark of quality in 2019.

Scat Daddy
Runners 40
No. RPR80 26
65%

The late Scat Daddy made his name with fast, physically forward two-year-olds but clearly he is more versatile than that as he tops this particular table despite having no runners of that age in 2019, with his final crop aged three.

His highest rated runners in Britain and Ireland were So Perfect, placed three times in Group 1 company over the minimum trip, and Qabala, winner of the Nell Gwyn Stakes and third in the 1,000 Guineas.

Scat Daddy might no longer be around, and there is no more of his untried young stock to buy, but this reminder of the quality he imparts might perhaps encourage breeders to patronise his growing stallion tribe in Europe or to try to purchase his daughters to add to their broodmare bands.

Frankel
Runners 110
No. RPR80 70
64%

Here once again is confirmation that Frankel is an outstanding sire, even allowing for the fact that many of his progeny are out of top-notch mares, as he outdoes his father Galileo and the likes of Dubawi and Kingman, for whom similar comments apply.

York Stakes and Juddmonte International third Elarqam was his best runner in 2019 on a mark of 122, with Gold Cup third Master Of Reality and St Leger hero Logician joint-second on 119. Logician provided a strong hint at Doncaster that he could be his sire's top performer in 2020.

For the record, Frankel headed all his peers by ratio of runners with an RPR of 100 or higher this year, on 30 per cent, and also 115 or higher, on ten per cent. As I said: outstanding.

Dubawi
Runners 175
No. RPR80 108
62%

The Darley flag bearer fielded only one winner of a Group 1 in Britain or Ireland in 2019 – Sussex Stakes victor Too Darn Hot, his highest rated performer of the year on 128 – though this figure shows he supplied his usual slew of classy customers and, moreover, he was represented by other top-level winners on the continent, such as Coronet and Ghaiyyath, and further afield by Old Persian.

Dubawi managed the fourth best ratio of runners with an RPR of 100 or higher, on 23 per cent, but that uncustomary small shortfall in Group 1 winners on these isles saw him slip from third place by offspring with RPRs of 115 or better in 2018 to joint 12th one year on – going from seven per cent to three per cent.

Dubawi had finished in the top ten of that elite measure every year since 2012 until then, so that looks like a temporary blip.

Declaration Of War
Runners 57
No. RPR80 30
53%

Declaration Of War's lofty position on this table might surprise many, as he has never been hailed a roaring success and left Coolmore's Ashford Stud when his first runners were only three to join the Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan.

Among his best representatives in Britain and Ireland in 2019 were classy handicappers On The Warpath and Proschema, along with Acomb Stakes scorer Valdermoro, none of them household names and indeed he finishes comfortably outside of the top 20 stallions by percentage of runners rated 110 or higher.

But there should be space in the stallion ranks for one who can produce talented, if not all of them top-rated, runners at the right price. As it happens, he did supply one of the year's big winners, although Melbourne Cup hero Vow And Declare falls outside of the parameters of this table.

Galileo
Runners 191
No. RPR80 102
53%

Proof that Galileo is an exceptional sire is hardly required in the year he collected his 11th British and Irish sire championship and delivered domestic Group 1 winners Anthony Van Dyck, Circus Maximus, Hermosa, Japan, Love, Magical, Search For A Song and Sovereign.

But what is perhaps noteworthy is that he maintains a strong concentration of quality in his racecourse representation despite having the highest number of runners of any other stallion in this list until you get down to joint 34th-placed Dark Angel, who had 36 per cent of his 270 runners rated 80-plus in 2019.

The Coolmore colossus is second only to Frankel by ratio of runners with an RPR of 100 or higher (28 per cent) and third on 115 or higher (seven per cent).

Night Of Thunder
Runners 40
No. RPR80 21
53%

No wonder Night Of Thunder's statistics with his debut two-year-olds in 2019 have got breeders purring. His mark of 53 per cent of runners in Britain and Ireland rated 80 or higher puts him in a league of his own among the freshman sires, with Gleneagles next best on 27 per cent.

By way of comparison the standout first-season sires of 2018, No Nay Never and Kingman, ended last year on figures of 43 and 41 per cent in this category, while Night Of Thunder's brilliant sire Dubawi achieved 40 per cent with his inaugural juvenile runners.

It will be fascinating to see if Night Of Thunder can maintain the furious pace he has set himself into 2020. The breeders who have swamped Darley with applications to send mares to him at Kildangan Stud next year clearly believe he can.

Noble Mission
Runners 17
No. RPR80 9
53%

The import of youngsters by Frankel's multiple Group 1-winning brother Noble Mission from the US, where he stands at Lane's End Farm, looks to have been well worthwhile: from only 17 runners in Britain and Ireland, nine have come up to scratch with an RPR of 80 or more.

They are headed by Bahrain Trophy winner Spanish Moon, Derby seventh Humanitarian and smart handicappers Creationist and On A Session.

Noble Mission's first two crops also include the dual US Grade 1 scorer Code Of Honor. With a stud fee of $20,000 versus £175,000 for Frankel, as well as a yearling average around ten times less than his more famous half-brother in 2019, he presents a golden opportunity for breeders and buyers to get into those illustrious bloodlines at a fraction of the price.

Sea The Stars
Runners 143
No. RPR80 74
52%

Sea The Stars' class and consistency is underlined by this statistic, with 52 per cent of his 143 runners in Britain and Ireland in 2019 given an RPR of 80 or higher, with the highlights being the wonderful Group 1 winners Crystal Ocean, Star Catcher and Stradivarius.

Of course, few would breed to the world champion and half-brother to Galileo hoping for just a runner rated 80, and it is worth mentioning that he comes in joint-sixth when the table is ordered by runners rated 100 or higher, operating at a clip of 20 per cent.

Kingman
Runners 120
No. RPR80 61
51%

Kingman's rapid ascent to the top of the stallion ranks is partly justified by this figure, which shows a high volume of his runners earning that base RPR of 80 or higher.

In fact, he arguably deserves extra credit as some of the best performers in his first two crops delivered their best performances this year in France, including Persian King and Headman.

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