Bill Oppenheim, December 2, 2011-40 Recommended >Value= Sires 40 RECOMMENDED >VALUE= SIRES: KY, $50K & UNDER As I am well aware of by now, endorsing certain stallions as comprising >relative value= is an exercise fraught with difficulties. Invariably many deserving sires are passed over, because you can=t say you love them all, but I do want to emphasize again these are opinions, not statements of fact. It=s a subjective process, and I readily admit other points of view are equally valid-- which is why we always encourage people who feel a horse they like (or stand) and that they particularly believe in is left out, please email us what we call your Nomination From The Floor. Though we hope to base our recommendations on good, solid data, this is a subjective exercise and, as you well know also by now, >we= are not infallible. So email, tweet, or post your objections and amendments, because discussion about the relative merits of stallions is always a good thing. This week, I=d like to concentrate on Kentucky stallions standing for $50,000 and under. Don=t get me wrong, I think a lot of sires standing in Kentucky for more than $50,000 are still good buys for who they are: Distorted Humor at $100,000 and Smart Strike at $85,000 are just two obvious examples. But you don=t need me to tell you they=re top sires--that=s why they cost more than $50,000 to breed to. They=re all top sires, it=s just a matter of whether, as a breeder, you=re in that league. If so, then it=s more a matter of narrowing down which of the top sires best suits the individual mare. Only three of the 40 sires on this list stand for $50,000, and they=re all included for the same reason: given how good they all are, they should be standing for more. This has been the case for a couple of years with Adena Springs= Awesome Again, who--as if we needed reminding again--nearly had his fifth Breeders= Cup winner and second GI Breeders= Cup Classic winner (after Ghostzapper) when two-time 2011 Grade I winner Game On Dude held off all but Drosselmeyer in this year=s Classic. Awesome Again himself won one of the best Breeders= Cup Classics ever in 1998. The other two $50,000 sires would be on, if for no other reason, than they are members of the >fearsome foursome= of North American sires with first foals 2006 (first 5-year-olds 2011) who all look headed straight to the top. " " " Click here to access TDN Progeny PPs Oppenheim cont. Tapit is standing next year for $125,000; Medaglia D=Oro is $100,000; so, by comparison, Lane=s End=s Candy Ride and WinStar=s Speightstown have to qualify as good value (okay, relatively speaking). Speightstown is up to the number six North American sire on the 2011 TDN General Sire List (click here), including 12 Black-Type Winners (hereafter abbreviated BTW) and seven graded/group stakes horses (GSH). Candy Ride “In his tribute to Martin Mitchell, retiring as Bloodstock Sales has 14 BTW and nine GSH this year--not to mention Director after 40 years with the company, Tattersalls three sons going to stud in Kentucky next year (to be Chairman Edmond Mahony forgot to mention that he has discussed later). also been this correspondent’s Newmarket sales landlord There are a total of 15 sires on the list with first foals for the last 25 years. Ironically, after 34 years in his flat in Cambridge, Martin has now decided to move to Newmarket 2006 or earlier, so we can call them really >proven – good news for those of us still working. He’s a brilliant guy sires.= After the three standing for $50,000 just and a great friend. Yes, and the mare sale was up 28% in discussed, there are 12 others I thought deserve special gross and 31% in average (entire sale + 29% gross, +25% mention, all standing for $30,000 and under. average), continuing the welcome trend we’ve seen for most Claiborne=s Arch ($30,000) of course had Blame last of the autumn sales season.” -- Bill Oppenheim year, but has been popular at around this level for a few years now, and has followings in both North America and Europe, which is unusual these days. Ashford=s Tale of the Cat ($30,000) was once champion sire of 2-year-olds and, besides still being good at that, (the injured GII Sanford S. winner Overdriven was arguably the best 2-year-old seen out this year), older horses like Tale of Ekati and Gio Ponti have kept his name to the fore the last few years. Both are now at stud in Kentucky. The first Kentucky crop by Three Chimneys= Exchange Rate ($25,000) were 2-year-olds this year, and they rank him eighth on the North American Two-Year-Old Sire List (Bloodhorse.com), with 19 2-year-old winners, including four 2-year-old BTW. If there were such a thing as a first-Kentucky crop TATTERSALLS DECEMBER MARE SALE YEAR CAT RING SOLD %W/D %S/R %S/C GROSS AVG freshman sire list, he would rank number three, right on 2011 1,087 865 629 20.4% 72.7% 72.7% 44,121,500 70,145 the heels of Hard Spun and Scat Daddy. 2010 1,096 888 644 19.0% 72.5% 72.5% 34,544,800 53,641 Lane=s End=s City Zip has now clawed his way up to a 2009 984 792 628 19.5% 79.3% 79.3% 33,197,700 52,863 $20,000 stud fee, the same as his previously more 2008 1,230 904 610 26.5% 67.5% 67.5% 33,355,150 54,861 celebrated half-brother, Ghostzapper. Previously known 2007 1,390 1,132 762 18.6% 67.3% 54.8% 69,498,500 91,205 himself as a sire of precocious 2-year-olds, now City Zip ranks 25th among North American sires on the TDN General Sire List, with the earners of more than $5-million this year, including an impressive 22 black-type horses (BTH, won or placed in black-type races), including four graded stakes winners (GSW). Taylor Made=s Northern Afleet is another who has worked his way up the stud fee ladder, to $15,000 for 2012. None more deserving: he now has six Grade I winners, his two this year, including impressive GI Breeders= Cup Sprint winner Amazombie. As well as being a perennial leading sire by winners and races won, he has also sired the 2005 champion 3-year-old and now successful sire, Afleet Alex. Also at $15,000 are Walmac=s Successful Appeal, never really a household TATTERSALLS DECEMBER TOTAL SALE name, but who sports a 2.21 APEX A Runner Index, YEAR CAT RING SOLD %W/D %S/R %S/C GROSS AVG and an impressive 2.62 ABC Index for 2-year-olds; and 2011 2,331 1,942 1,444 16.7% 74.4% 61.9% 71,747,900 49,687 2010 2,344 1,898 1,398 19.0% 73.7% 59.6% 55,610,800 39,779 Claiborne=s Flatter, who ranks 26th among North 2009 2,183 1,780 1,399 18.5% 78.6% 64.1% 66,251,602 47,356 American sires this year with over $5-million in progeny 2008 2,728 2,024 1,275 25.8% 63.0% 46.7% 58,213,362 45,658 earnings, including 21 black-type horses. 2007 3,066 2,531 1,690 17.4% 66.8% 55.1% 119,304,537 70,594 Oppenheim cont. Data compiled by Brianne Stanley Airdrie=s Include made a promising start with his first He has a very good 3-year-old colt, called Mr. 2-year-olds in 2006 and got big books of better mares Commons, who ran second against >olders= in two Grade in 2007 and 2008. His 2008 crop now includes 15 II races in California; and he had, by all accounts, a very black-type horses--he=s proven he could >stand the impressive 2-year-old winner in California the other day, raise,= so offers plenty of appeal at $12,500 for 2012. by the name of Blingo. These two at least seem to have Lane=s End=s Pleasantly Perfect made over $7.7-million real ability. on the racetrack, defeated Medaglia D=Oro in both the Backing freshman sires to still be around in 12 GI Breeders= Cup Classic and G1 Dubai World Cup, and months= time is a road to ruin, but the top five North has an A Runner Index of 2.72, so he looks great value American sires on the 2011 TDN Freshman Sire List at $10,000. The gamble of the year has to be (click here) do merit a mention. Darley=s Hard Spun Gainesway=s Birdstone, who drops back to $10,000 for ($40,000) has worked his way to the top of the table, 2012. You remember Birdstone; a member of the with 22 winners (3 BTW, 1 GSW) and the earners of dynamite F2006 sire crop featuring the Fearsome just under $1.4-million. Ashford=s Scat Daddy ($17,500) Foursome (and Pleasantly Perfect), Birdstone was is less than $100,000 behind, with 26 winners (3 BTW, number five on that list after he had two Classic 2 GSW), and the earners of just over $1.3-million.