Muhaarar 11-4 favourite to top first-season sire charts

RaceBets have unveiled their annual market on the leading first-season sire by number of individual winners in Britain and Ireland this year and have installed champion sprinter Muhaarar as 11-4 favourite.

Muhaarar has many of the right credentials to excel with his debut runners in the season ahead – for the purposes of betting, winners will count from Sunday to November 29 – as he was high-class at two himself, winning the Gimcrack and finishing a close third in the Middle Park Stakes, before landing four Group 1 sprints at three.

The son of Oasis Dream – previously responsible for a productive freshman sire in Showcasing – has numbers on his side, with 105 foals in his first crop, and his yearlings were well received in the ring last year, selling for an average of 169,196gns, meaning his stock will have arrived in many of the top stables.

Not far behind Muhaarar in RaceBets' opening show at 7-2 is Gutaifan, a dual Group 2-winning juvenile by Dark Angel who has the largest firepower of any first-season sire in Europe this year, with 163 two-year-olds on the ground.

Gleneagles, a Group 1 winner at two and dual 2,000 Guineas winner at three, is a 6-1 chance to come up with most winners and has 109 two-year-olds to go to war with. He certainly has pedigree on his side, as a Galileo brother to fellow top-level scorers Happily and Marvellous out of a sister to the great Giant's Causeway.

Star Australian sprinter Brazen Beau – by southern-hemisphere sire sensation I Am Invincible, who is in turn a son of former European champion freshman Invincible Spirit – is available at 7-1 and has 78 first-crop two-year-olds on his team.

The only other sire pitched in at a single-figure price is Night Of Thunder, who did not race until the October of his juvenile season but won both starts impressively that month and famously took the scalps of Kingman and Australia in the 2,000 Guineas at three. The son of Dubawi has 101 juveniles to bat for him and is a 9-1 chance.

Joseph Burke, who compiles the odds for RaceBets, said: "Six of the 17 stallions listed in the betting achieved ratings of 120 or more on the track, so it promises to be an exciting year.

“To my mind, Gleneagles has the best combination of race record and pedigree of any stallion to retire since Kingman. Rated just 1lb behind him comes fellow Classic-winning miler Make Believe, who also broke the seven furlong track record at Longchamp.

“Golden Horn was the highest-rated of the group but both he and Free Eagle are likely to have more potential Classic types than precocious two-year-olds, while the juveniles by the very fast Brazen Beau have already fared tremendously well in Australia.”

Explaining why he plumped for Muhaarar as favourite, Burke added: “Joint-second top-rated of the six, he was devastatingly fast from the May of his juvenile career through to winning the Gimcrack.

“He took the Greenham on his three-year-old debut before finishing up with four consecutive Group 1 races so that, along with some very positives vibes about his first crop, sees him as the favourite.”

He acknowledged, though, that quantity could play into the hands of other freshman sires.

“Gutaifan and Anjaal have by far the largest numbers of representatives this year and as Group 2-winning two-year-olds themselves, they too are expected to make their mark,” he said.

“We also have Night Of Thunder, who as a 32,000gns yearling has already proven the surprise package on the track and he could do it again now.”

Group 2-winning sprinter and Middle Park Stakes second Hot Streak is on offer at 10-1, with dual Group 2-winning two-year-old Ivawood at 12-1, the prolific Anjaal at 16-1 and Poule d'Essai des Poulains hero Make Believe at 18-1.

Last year's leading first-season sire by number of winners was No Nay Never, who opened up at 4-1 when RaceBets first issued prices.

There were juicier odds available for the preceding two winning results, Society Rock and Sir Prancealot, who were introduced at 7-1 and 14-1 respectively.

RaceBets opened a new market this year on the first of this year's freshmen to be represented by a Classic winner in Britain, Ireland or France as a sophomore sire in 2020.

Gleneagles is the 5-2 favourite for that accolade, with Golden Horn and Night Of Thunder available at 4-1 each and Make Believe at 5-1. Free Eagle and Muhaarar are on offer at 6-1 and 9-1.

Leading First-Season Sire
Number of individual winners Britain Ireland
March 24-November 29, 2019
(Determined by official Racing Post stats)

RaceBets 11-4 Muhaarar, 7-2 Gutaifan, 6 Gleneagles, 7 Brazen Beau, 9 Night Of Thunder, 10 Hot Streak, 12 Ivawood, 16 Anjaal, 18 Make Believe, 20 Cable Bay, 25 Outstrip, 28 Free Eagle, 40 Due Diligence, Golden Horn, Hallowed Crown, 66 Cappella Sansevero, Fountain Of Youth
Win only

First stallion to sire a Classic winner
In Ireland, France or Britain
RaceBets 5-2 Gleneagles, 4 Golden Horn, Night Of Thunder, 5 Make Believe, 6 Free Eagle, 9 Muhaarar, 14 Ivawood, 20 Hot Streak, 33 Brazen Beau, Gutaifan, 40 Anjaal, Cable Bay, 50 Outstrip, 66 Cappella Sansevero, Due Diligence, 100 Fountain Of Youth, Hallowed Crown
Win only

THIS YEAR'S FIRST-SEASON SIRES: THE FORM GUIDE

Anjaal
Sire Bahamian Bounty
Best RPR at 2 110
2016 stud fee €5,000
No. of two-year-olds 149
Yearling average 14,010gns

Brazen Beau
Sire I Am Invincible
Best RPR at 2 112
2016 stud fee £10,000
No. of two-year-olds 78
Yearling average 36,304gns

Cable Bay
Sire Invincible Spirit
Best RPR at 2 115
2016 stud fee £6,500
No. of two-year-olds 113
Yearling average 20,024gns

Cappella Sansevero
Sire Showcasing
Best RPR at 2 112
2016 stud fee €4,500
No. of two-year-olds 60
Yearling average 21,872gns

Due Diligence
Sire War Front
Best RPR at 2 93
2016 stud fee £6,500
No. of two-year-olds 83
Yearling average 14,745gns

Fountain Of Youth
Sire Oasis Dream
Best RPR at 2 98
2016 stud fee £5,000
No. of two-year-olds 71
Yearling average 14,281gns

Free Eagle
Sire High Chaparral
Best RPR at 2 104
2016 stud fee €20,000
No. of two-year-olds 86
Yearling average 50,352gns

French Navy
Sire Shamardal
Best RPR at 2 113
2016 stud fee €4,000
No. of two-year-olds 43
Yearling average 5,661gns

Fulbright
Sire Exceed And Excel
Best RPR at 2 97
2016 stud fee €4,000
No. of two-year-olds 37
Yearling average 8,929gns

G Force
Sire Tamayuz
Best RPR at 2 85
2016 stud fee €8,000
No. of two-year-olds 8
Yearling average 18,614gns

Gleneagles
Sire Galileo
Best RPR at 2 116
2016 stud fee €60,000
No. of two-year-olds 109
Yearling average 117,736gns

Golden Horn
Sire Cape Cross
Best RPR at 2 86
2016 stud fee £60,000
No. of two-year-olds 98
Yearling average 143,886gns

Gutaifan
Sire Dark Angel
Best RPR at 2 114
2016 stud fee €12,500
No. of two-year-olds 163
Yearling average 41,692gns

Hallowed Crown
Sire Street Sense
Best RPR at 2 109
2016 stud fee €7,000
No. of two-year-olds 77
Yearling average 15,700gns

Hot Streak
Sire Iffraaj
Best RPR at 2 113
2016 stud fee £7,000
No. of two-year-olds 79
Yearling average 40,436gns

Intrinsic
Sire Oasis Dream
Best RPR at 2 Unraced
2016 stud fee £1,750
No. of two-year-olds 24
Yearling average 4,333gns

Ivawood
Sire Zebedee
Best RPR at 2 117
2016 stud fee €9,000
No. of two-year-olds 100
Yearling average 18,933gns

Kingston Hill
Sire Mastercraftsman
Best RPR at 2 119
2016 stud fee €6,000
No. of two-year-olds 93
Yearling average 14,124gns

Make Believe
Sire Makfi
Best RPR at 2 85
2016 stud fee €20,000
No. of two-year-olds 85
Yearling average 41,949gns

Muhaarar
Sire Oasis Dream
Best RPR at 2 113
2016 stud fee £30,000
No. of two-year-olds 105
Yearling average 169,196gns

Music Master
Sire Piccolo
Best RPR at 2 72
2016 stud fee £4,000
No. of two-year-olds 15
Yearling average 800gns

Mustajeeb
Sire Nayef
Best RPR at 2 107
2016 stud fee £5,000
No. of two-year-olds 23
Yearling average 7,920gns

Night Of Thunder
Sire Dubawi
Best RPR at 2 114
2016 stud fee €30,000
No. of two-year-olds 101
Yearling average 62,136gns

Outstrip
Sire Exceed And Excel
Best RPR at 2 117
2016 stud fee £5,000
No. of two-year-olds 105
Yearling average 18,418gns

Shooting To Win
Sire Northern Meteor
Best RPR at 2 -
2016 stud fee €7,000
No. of two-year-olds 27
Yearling average 8,000gns