Thunder struck

LEADING SIRES

Here’s proof positive that the death of Coolmore phenomenon Galileo in 2021 ushered in a new, far more open, era in the stallion business: Night Of Thunder will be the fourth different champion sire in Britain and Ireland in as many years, following Frankel in 2022, Dubawi in 2023 and Dark Angel in 2024.

The last sequence of four separate titleholders occurred between 1987 and 1990, when Mill Reef, Caerleon, Blushing Groom and Sadler’s Wells headed the standings. That was the first of Sadler’s Wells’ record-breaking 14 championships, with Galileo leading the way 12 times until 2020. Father and son dominated the table for three decades.

Night Of Thunder was holding second-placed Wootton Bassett at bay with a margin of around €660,000 in progeny earnings up to early November. The chief contributors to the Kildangan Stud-based son of Dubawi’s pot this year were Prince of Wales’s Stakes and Juddmonte International hero Ombudsman, 1000 Guineas victress Desert Flower and Dewhurst winner Gewan, as well as Group 2 scorers Bow Echo, Estrange, More Thunder and Zeus Olympios. He really is a brilliant source of high-class horses.

So too was Wootton Bassett, who sadly died of acute pneumonia caused by choke while on shuttle duty in Australia in September. Coolmore’s son of Iffraaj owes his lofty position in the domestic standings to Group 1 winners Al Riffa, Hawk Mountain and Whirl. He will top the European table thanks to a host of French top-level scorers, namely Camille Pissarro, Henri Matisse, Maranoa Charlie, Puerto Rico and Sahlan.

Wootton Bassett will be represented by expansive, well-bred crops of three-year-olds, many of whom will be trained by Aidan O’Brien, until 2029 – so it looks likely that he will gain a posthumous British and Irish title before the next decade.

Previous British and Irish champion sires Dubawi and Frankel were fighting it out for third in this year’s table up to early November, while there was another close tussle for fifth place between Sea The Stars, Lope De Vega and Kingman.

The sire of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner usually becomes champion in France, as the Longchamp showpiece is so lavishly endowed with prizemoney, and it was no different this year, with Sea The Stars claiming the honour due to sons Daryz and Sosie finishing first and third in the race.

Of course, champion sire titles based on prizemoney are only ceremonial, really. There are far fairer and more informative statistics by which to evaluate success, and a wide range of them are available to view on the Stallion Guide website.

Perhaps the most important metric, which takes into account the numerical chances a sire receives, is strike rate of black-type winners to runners. Dubawi scores highly by that measure in Europe, on 14.55%, as do Night Of Thunder on 11.61%, Justify on 10%, Wootton Bassett on 8.02% and Frankel on 8%.

Those sires are beyond the means of most breeders and/or buyers, but more affordable names are only a little further down the pecking order. Golden Horn is on 5.56% black-type winners to runners, while Muhaarar is on 4.55%, Make Believe is on 4.46%, Awtaad is on 4.23% and Saxon Warrior is on 3.8%.

King Of Change

LEADING FIRST-SEASON SIRES

Starman is the runaway leading first-season sire in Europe, with nearly twice the progeny earnings of his closest pursuer, St Mark’s Basilica. There is a real ring of quality to the Tally-Ho Stud resident’s debut two-year-olds, as they include five black-type winners (at a decent 5.32% strike rate) in Prix Morny heroine Venetian Sun, Prix Robert Papin victor and Phoenix Stakes third Green Sense, Group 3 winners Lady Iman and North Coast, and Listed scorer Leading Dancer.

Starman has 11 black-type performers in total, including runners-up in major races such as the Queen Mary Stakes (Flowerhead), Mill Reef Stakes (Into The Sky) and Rockfel Stakes (The Prettiest Star). The son of Dutch Art looks like an important new force.

St Mark’s Basilica also shone. His first crop of two-year-olds features three black-type winners (at an even better 6.12%), namely Prix Marcel Boussac heroine Diamond Necklace, May Hill Stakes winner Aylin and Listed scorer Thesecretadversary. Coolmore’s son of Siyouni excelled at three himself, so we should hear even more about him next year.

The other standout freshman sire of 2025 was Palace Pier, the Dalham Hall Stud-based champion miler by Kingman. He fielded four black-type winners at an excellent clip of 8.16% – Royal Fixation in the Lowther Stakes, A Bit Of Spirit and Dr Omran in Group 3s and Morris Dancer at Listed level – although his overall winners-to-runners strike rate of 18% up to early November left room for improvement.

The Irish National Stud’s offering Lucky Vega also fared well with his first two-year-olds, who included 18 winners at a strike rate of 40% and two black-type scorers (Lam Yai and Only Luck in Listed contests) at a ratio of 4.44% up to November.

The percentage margin between the top two was similar in the British and Irish table, although the leader of the chasing pack differed. Spaceman’s progeny accumulated €1,315,423 in prizemoney compared to Space Blues’ €658,339. St Mark’s Basilica had to settle for third with €610,800, just ahead of Palace Pier in fourth on €561,830. There is a considerable gap then back to the rest of the pack.

Palace Pier posted the best percentage of black-type winners to runners of 6.82%, marginally in front of St Mark’s Basilica with 6.67%. Starman, with a vastly more considerable number of runs, posts 4.55%.

LEADING SECOND-SEASON SIRES

Europe’s second-season sires continue to be an evenly matched lot, with none really establishing any sort of supremacy over their peers. The ‘champion’, by prizemoney at least, looks like being Whitsbury Manor Stud resident Sergei Prokofiev, whose sole stakes winner was Arizona Blaze in the Flying Five.

The son of Scat Daddy was around €183,000 ahead in November, with Ghaiyyath, Mohaather, Hello Youmzain, Pinatubo, Persian King and Sands Of Mali hot on his heels. Little more than €200,000 in earnings covered those six, too.

Arguably the most commendable displays were put up by two of the cheapest members of this cohort. King Of Change, a Group 1-winning son of Farhh who stood at Starfield Stud at just €5,000 in 2025, posted four black-type winners – Lady With The Lamp, Miss Of Change, Onemoredance and Shayem14 – at a mighty 13.79% strike rate.

Sands Of Mali, a top-class two-year-old and sprinter by Panis who has covered mares at modest fees at Ballyhane Stud and who it was announced was being sold on a sealed-bid basis in November, meanwhile fielded three black-type winners, including Commonwealth Cup heroine Time For Sandals, at a clip of 3.8%.

It’s a similar scenario on the GB & Ireland table, except that it is Sands Of Mali heading the closest pursuers of Sergei Prokofiev. King Of Change’s three black-type winners in this region come at a clip of 13.04%. By comparison, the next highest in these standings from those in the top echelons is Pinatubo’s 2.56%.

LEADING THIRD-SEASON SIRES

Darley pair Blue Point and Too Darn Hot dominate the third-season sire standings by prizemoney, as they did as freshmen and sophomores, but it is Study Of Man who is really dazzling in this department. The Lanwades Stud-based son of Deep Impact has been represented by eight black-type winners in 2025, for a strike rate of 7.77%. His standout performer this year was Kalpana, who sealed a repeat victory in the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes and finished second in the King George.

STARMAN (Photo: Alice Fitzgerald)

Phoenix Of Spain, another third-crop sire, came of age this year. The Irish National Stud’s Classic-winning son of Lope De Vega came up with five black-type scorers in 2025, including Caballo De Mar at the highest level in the Prix du Cadran, producing a very solid strike rate of 4.9% to runners.

Britain and Ireland reflects the overall European trend, with the same stallions filling the first four places. Ten Sovereigns sneaks into the top five though, by little more than €5,000 from Advertise.

With all eight of Study Of Man’s eight black-type winners in Europe coming in Britain or Ireland, his strike rate increases to a spectacular 11.27%. Phoenix Of Spain is best of the rest with his five black-type winners bringing him to 7.69%.

LEADING SIRES OF TWO-YEAR-OLDS

Wootton Bassett was the leading sire of two-year-olds in Europe and in Britain and Ireland this year, thanks to his ability to produce classy youngsters with almost mechanical precision, aided of course by him having covered so many accomplished and/or well-bred mares.

He boasted 47 winners of that age up to early November in Europe, including nine black-type scorers (achieved at a clip of 9.68%) and 17 black-type horses in total. 

Pick of the bunch were elite winners Hawk Mountain and Puerto Rico, Group 2 scorers Composing and Constitution River and Group 1-placed Brussels and Nighttime. Albert Einstein might turn out to be the best of them all, if he lives up to the high praise with which he has been showered by Aidan O’Brien.

Night Of Thunder also did well in this division, with five juvenile black-type winners from 44 runners, making a table-topping ratio of 11.36%. The aforementioned Bow Echo and Gewan, as well as Group 3 winners Distant Storm and Hankelow, are exciting three-year-old prospects for him in 2026. 

Starspangledbanner had an exceptional year with his two-year-olds, who are the result of his most expensive book at the time, his fee at Coolmore in 2022 having risen on the back of son State Of Rest’s international exploits in 2021. He managed 47% winners and 10% black-type winners to runners, headlined by Group/Grade 1 scorers Gstaad and Precise.

It was the same top five in Britain and Ireland, with Wootton Bassett racking up more than €2.5m in prizemoney and also posting an impressive strike rate for black-type victors of 10.81%, though it was Night Of Thunder who took the honours in this department on 12.5%.

LEADING BROODMARE SIRES

Galileo’s tenure as champion sire might be over but he is still bringing his influence to bear through his daughters and he was the leading broodmare sire in Europe in 2025 for the sixth year in a row. His maternal grandchildren had earned around €3.5m more in prizemoney than those by second-placed Dansili up to early November.

Galileo’s greatest hits as broodmare sire in Europe in the past 12 months were Al Riffa, Hawk Mountain, Maranoa Charlie, Precise, Puerto Rico, Scandinavia and Whirl. He was also represented in this regard by Irish-bred, Australian-based celebrity Via Sistina.

It was a landmark year for Dansili as damsire, as some of the season’s most glittering stars were out of his daughters, including Diamond Necklace, Kalpana, Los Angeles, Minnie Hauk and Ombudsman – not to mention shock Sussex Stakes victor Qirat.

Modern greats Frankel and Sea The Stars are starting to really motor in the broodmare sire table. Frankel boasted 44% winners and 8.55% black-type winners to runners in Europe this year. Lockinge Stakes hero Lead Artist and promoted Poule d’Essai des Pouliches winner Zarigana were the best advertisements for breeding from one of his daughters. Sea The Stars meanwhile notched 49% winners and 6.18% black-type winners to runners, including Quisisana and Sibayan at an elite level.

LEADING NATIONAL HUNT SIRES

Glamour option Walk In The Park was the champion jumps sire in Britain and Ireland in 2024/25 for the second season in a row, and by an enormous margin, with his progeny earnings of €5,453,836 dwarfing those of second-placed Getaway on €2,275,117.

No wonder the son of Montjeu routed his rivals, as his representatives included Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Inothewayurthinkin, Grand National victor Nick Rockett, Bet365 Gold Cup winner Resplendent Grey, three-time Grade 1-winning two-mile chaser Jonbon and fellow top-level scorers Aurora Vega, Croke Park and Final Demand.

Walk In The Park covered his tenth big book of blue-chip mares at Grange Stud this year and so looks likely to maintain his stranglehold on the table for some time.

Golden Horn, who stands as a dual-purpose sire at Overbury Stud, had a breakthrough season over jumps. The champion son of Cape Cross recorded five black-type winners from 54 runners for an outstanding 9.26% strike rate. They were very good black-type winners, too: Golden Ace and Poniros, who landed Grade 1s at the Cheltenham Festival, in the Champion Hurdle and Triumph Hurdle respectively, and East India Dock, Mark Of Gold and Nemean Lion, who took Grade 2 races.

Valirann, a son of Nayef who switched from Whytemount Stud to Tullaghansleek Stud this year, also enjoyed a banner season. He posted three black-type winners from 57 runners at a laudable strike rate of 5.26%. Again, they weren’t any old black-type winners: they were Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase hero Lecky Watson, Grade 1-winning novice hurdler Potters Charm and Welsh Grand National victor Val Dancer.

Last season’s stats magnify the tragedy of the loss of Jukebox Jury to colic at Burgage Stud this summer at the age of 19. The grey son of Montjeu delivered five black-type winners – including Bambino Fever, Honesty Policy and Il Etait Temps at the highest level – from 98 runners, at a magnificent clip of 5.1%.

The figures also show Jukebox Jury’s former Burgage Stud colleague Shantou in a good light. The St Leger-winning son of Alleged was represented by six black-type winners from 131 runners at a ratio of 4.58%. The highlights were Grade 2-winning chaser Stellar Story and big handicap chase scorers Chianti Classico and Knockanore.

The trouble with national hunt breeding is that by the time stallions are proven to be effective by the accomplishments of their progeny, they are often no longer able to be used by breeders – as is sadly the case with Jukebox Jury and Shantou.

However, Stallion Guide online has the perfect remedy for that, in a table reserved for jumps sires in Europe who retired to stud in the preceding ten years.

French sires, whose progeny generally race at a younger age, rule the roost. Haras de Cercy resident Cokoriko leads by prizemoney, on €3,887,303, and he also manages a very fair 4.13% black-type-winners-to runners strike rate. Sefton Novices’ Hurdle victor Julius Des Pictons, Grade 3-winning hurdler Kitzbuhel and Grand National fourth Iroko showed him to good effect in Britain and Ireland.

Haras de la Tuilerie-based Masked Marvel announced his arrival as the next sensation in French jumps breeding with leading British and Irish staying hurdler Teahupoo being one of his 11 black-type winners last season, achieved at a clip of 8.09%.

Jeu St Eloi, a son of the wonderful jumps influence Saint Des Saints, has proven wildly popular with breeders in his first two seasons at Glenview Stud. His supporters will be delighted to see that he provided six black-type winners from 101 runners at a ratio of 5.94% in 2024/25. One of those was registered on the biggest stage of all, with Kargese taking the County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.