U.S. sires in Europe, 2002 to 2006

Courtesy of Eurosire

The table below shows the success of North American-based sires in Europe over the past five seasons. Roughly half of them are now dead or retired or in the southern hemisphere, but the remainder are still available to breeders.

Of the top 50 listed, 18 did most, if not all, of their racing on European turf tracks and several, including Rahy, Theatrical, Atticus, Royal Anthem and Miswaki, spent the latter part of their racing careers Stateside. Of the 27 US-raced sires, it is not surprising that the huge majority excelled on dirt during their racing careers, with perhaps Sky Classic and Cozzene being the most notable exceptions.

Their records as sires are much different, however. Even the dirt-raced stallions have sired a number of good turf runners although several, such as Gilded Time, Fusaichi Pegasus, Belong To Me, Thunder Gulch and Gone West, have sired most of their best runners on US dirt tracks.

The vast majority follow the expected pattern – their US runners do best on dirt and the European ones on turf. Australian trainers are masters at showing how horses can race over a variety of trips; Makybe Diva won three consecutive editions of the two mile Melbourne Cup but often dropped back considerably in between times, and won a seven furlong Gr.2 event at Caulfield in her final season. Maybe horses are far more adaptable than they are normally allowed to be, with too much emphasis being placed on whether a particular horse has a “dirt� or “turf� pedigree.

At their forthcoming Craven Breeze-Up Sale, Tattersalls have catalogued 223 lots, of which 100 (45%) are by US-based sires. The likes of Giant’s Causeway, Johannesburg and Van Nistelrooy ran well enough on European turf but a good number of the two-year-olds to be offered have
pedigrees that appear to shout “dirt� on both sides. There are opportunities for them here, with an early season European All Weather Series, plus a handful of Group and Listed events during the year at Kempton, Lingfield and Deauville, but European racing is still heavily geared to racing on turf rather than on artificial surfaces. How many of these young horses are going to be able to recoup their production, transport and sales costs if they prove ineffective on turf and have to spend most of their careers running round Southwell and Wolverhampton? Let us hope that they prove to be more adaptable than their pedigrees would suggest.

The top 50 list shows that the Northern Dancer sire line is the most popular, with his 20 representatives providing 58% winners to runners in Europe and 7.5% Stakes winners. The 12 Mr Prospectors show 58.5% winners but only 5.2% Stakes winners, and the three from the Blushing Groom line 61.6% winners and 5.7% Stakes winners. The overall prize goes to the 1972 Derby hero Roberto, with 61.4% winners and 8% Stakes winners. The son of Hail to Reason has been represented by numerous successful stallion sons, but it is only in the past couple of years that a worthy grandson has finally arrived.

Claiborne Stud’s Arch has sired five Gr.1 winners to date, three of them in 2006. The ill-fated Pine Island was best on dirt but the remainder have excelled on turf. Les Arcs and verarching showed their best form over sprint trips but the majority of his better runners stay 10 furlongs, and he could well be a sire whose stock make their mark in Europe over the coming years.

North American Sires in Europe 2002 to 2006

By Percentage of Winners to Runners

Minimum of 15 runners
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Courtesy of Eurosire. Telephone 01903 885 490. enquiries@eurosire.com