Frankel's May 25th Group 1 double confirmed his top spot... again

Two top level successes saw Juddmonte's star stallion sire his ninth winner of a "principal" European Classic, the most of any active sire, and confirm his position as the current leading European sire by European Group 1 winners-to-foals

Xtra, Season 1, Part 1, Week 2: by Jocelyn de Moubray

International Thoroughbred with the Weatherbys Stallion Scene

In this week's edition:
🔸 Frankel at the head of the active European Classic-winning stallions' list, and European stallions by percentage of Group 1 winners-to-foals
🔸 Nine active stallions in Europe are sires of ten Group 1 winners and above
🔸 Form of the 2024 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is looking pretty hot
🔸 This week's Xtra-ordinary winner: Uthred by Persian King
🔸 Nick Luck/Weatherbys Podcast: Classic-winning breeder Honora Donworth

🎥 WATCH XTRA ON VIDEO HERE ⬇️

In the space of a few minutes on May 25, Frankel confirmed his position as the leading active sire of the 12 principal European Classic races* and the leading sire of European Group 1 winners by percentage of winners-to-foals with two Group 1 winners.

*(The 12 "principal" Classic races = the 1,000, 2,000 Guineas, Oaks and Derbys in Britain and Ireland, the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, Poule d'Essai des Poulains, the Prix du Jockey-Club and the Prix de Diane in France)

The Coolmore partners’ Lake Victoria, (use the red links to see the latest Weatherbys' pedigree references), a brilliant winner of the Irish 1,000 Guineas, became her sire’s ninth principal European Classic winner, while at ParisLongchamp the Aga Khan’s four-year-old gelding Candelari put a 26th European Group 1 winner on to his sire's CV, with an impressive victory in the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier.

The sire’s percentage of European Group 1 winners-to-foals is 2.2 per cent, just ahead of Dubawi, who has had 40 European Group 1 winners at 2.1 per cent.

It seems funny to say it, and it is something often overlooked, racing is a tough sport because it is so difficult to win. In other sports the leading players are able to dominate their opponents – Roger Federer, for instance, won 86 per cent of his Grand Slam matches, but in racing even Andre Fabre, Aidan O’Brien or Ryan Moore will only achieve figures in excess of 25 per cent winners-to-runners in Group races for short periods of exceptional form.

For stallions the bar is set higher still. There are 85 Group 1 races a year in Europe, more than there used to be, and probably more than there should be, but they are still difficult to win.

When you consider that about 23,000 different horses compete in Flat races in Britain, Ireland and France every year, only one out of every 300 or 400 is able to win a Group 1 race.

There are currently nine active European stallions who have sired ten or more European Group 1 winners with, by numbers, Dubawi leading the way with 40 from his 16 crops of three-year-olds or older, followed by Frankel, with 26 from his first nine crops, Sea The Stars, 19 from 12, and the veterans Oasis Dream and Teofilo with 15 and 14.

The list of those in double figures is completed by Wootton Bassett on 12, Lope de Vega on 11 and then Kingman and Dark Angel on ten each.

From this list only two, Wootton Bassett and Kingman, have reached this mark with fewer than 1,000 foals of three-year-olds or older.

Wootton Bassett went to stud two years before Kingman but covered less mares in his early seasons at Haras d’Etreham and has a total of 791 foals of three and above, while Kingman has 922. Two other sires to have achieved an elite proportion of Group 1 winners to foals are Nathaniel and Camelot, who have eight European Group 1 winners each from only 802 and 884 foals of three or older.

If you narrow the lens further still and look only at the winners of the 12 principal Classic races in Britain, Ireland and France, Frankel is now alone with his nine winners having previously been joined at the top of the table earlier in the year by Siyouni when Zarigana became the Haras de Bonneval-based sire’s eighth Classic winner in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches.

These two are followed by Dubawi with seven principal Classic winners and then Kingman, Sea The Stars and Nathaniel with four,
and Lope De Vega and Camelot on three.

Kingman achieved his quartet with Juddmonte’s Field Of Gold’s easy win in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, with Cosmic Year, another colt from his sire’s seventh crop of three-year-olds, taking an excellent second place.

Kingman’s previous Classic winners are Persian King, Elmalka and Sparkling Plenty; the last two both from his 2021 crop and bred off a fee of £150,000, the stallion having stood since 2023 at £125,000. The 2016-born Persian King was conceived off a fee of just £55,000.

The sire has several chances for more Classic success this season at Epsom, this weekend at Chantilly and The Curragh, and it really could be a stand-out year for Kingman. 

These stallions are generally seen to be part of the elite of European sires, apart from the "outlier" that is Newsells Park Stud’s Nathaniel. He stood this year at only £20,000, despite having produced four Classic winners – Channel, Enable, Desert Crown and You Got To Me.

It was an Arc to remember 

When Juddmonte’s Camelot filly Bluestocking won last year’s Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for trainer Ralph Beckett and jockey Rossa Ryan there were many who were keen to announce that it was only an ordinary renewal of ParisLongchamp’s great race.

 It sure doesn’t read like that now that we are eight months down the road.

Bluestocking has been retired, but the second-placed horse last October, the Wertheimers’ Aventure (Sea The Stars), is unbeaten in two starts this year and was an easy winner of the Group 2 Prix Corrida on May 19 from Survie, who had herself finished seventh in the Arc.

The Arc third-placed, Aidan O’Brien’s Camelot colt Los Angeles, is unbeaten this year and winner of the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh, while the fourth, the Wertheimers’ Sea The Stars colt Sosie, is also unbeaten in 2025 and already a dual Group 1 winner of the Prix Ganay and Prix d’Ispahan.

The Arc fifth, OTI Management’s Sevenna’s Knight and another by Camelot, was second in the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier (G1), his best result in three starts at the highest level.

This week's Xtra-ordinary winner

Uthred 2022 g
Persian King-Eristars (Sea The Stars)
Owned & bred: Ecurie Griezmann
Trainer: Philippe Decouz

Uthred is an imposing colt, he stands nearly 17 hands, from the first crop of the Haras d'Etreham's Persian King.

He became the first winner bred by his owner Antoine Griezmann when winning an unraced maiden at Saint-Cloud in April, and the horse followed this up with a hard-fought but decisive win in a well-contested Class 2 race at Compiegne over a mile on May 21st.

Uthred made all the running and, having set a strong even pace, his final 200m was run at his race average speed. He was passed by Chibbity for a stride or two, but came back to win by a head and a head from Frankly Good Cen and Chibbity, with these three colts clear of their rivals.

All three are probably future stakes horses, the Frankel colt Frankly Good Cen is in the Prix du Jockey-Club and Chibbity had won well at Saint-Cloud on his previous start.

Uthred's win came as part of a good run of form for his young sire Persian King, whose daughter Cankoura won the Listed Prix Finlande and whose colts Best Secret, an easy winner of an April-run competitive handicap over 2000m, and Prosectutor, a good winner at Saint-Cloud over the same distance, both have Group entries over 400m further.

In Britain, the Persian King colts Quai De Bethune and Tilted Kilt have been placed in good handicaps over Quai De Bethune and a mile on the last two weekends.

🎧 LISTEN: Nick Luck chats to Classic-winning breeder Honora Donworth who, with her husband Bobby, has spent 20 years developing Princess Serena's family,
an effort which resulted in Field Of Gold's impressive Irish 2,000 Guineas victory.