As the breeding season commences, It is always interesting to keep an eye on the various sire-broodmare sire combinations that produce the best results. The role of the broodmare sire is often undervalued as the suspicion is that success is more likely down to the quality of his daughters’ female line, when in fact his own genes are just as likely to play a part. Among all of the sire-broodmare sire combinations that were represented by a European Group winner during 2023, among those with ten or more career runners, three reached the 50% stakes winner-to-runner mark.

No surprise that two involve champion sire Frankel who has sired six stakes winners from 12 runners out of daughters of Street Cry and five stakes winners from his ten runners from Empire Maker mares. Measured Time, Godolphin’s daughter of the Street Cry mare Minidress, only opened his stakes-winning account last year but has progressed well enough to land a Meydan Group-race double culminating with his victory in the Group 1 Jebel Hatta last month. He is now the best exponent of the Frankel-Street Cry partnership that also includes dual US Grade 2 turf scorer Skims and Australian Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes winner Frankly Awesome.

Juddmonte-bred full sisters Raclette, winner of the Group 2 Prix de Malleret, and French Listed scorer Ardent are two of the Frankel stakes winners out of mares by Empire Maker, a stallion that Juddmonte has had a long association with.

Of course, the same is true of Dansili who teamed up with fellow Juddmonte sire Frankel to produce the Group 1 Oaks heroine Soul Sister last year. It doesn’t hurt that Dansili has already accumulated 132 stakes winners as a broodmare sire at an impressive rate of 7% from runners. Even more impressive is his 13% stakes winners from his runners out of elite mares or the top 25%. Even so, the Frankel-Dansili axis has an eye-opening current strike rate of 29.4%.

Frankel: has forged good results with mares by Dubawi, Dansili and Dubawi among others. Photo – Juddmonte

Then we move on to the Banstead stallion’s record with local rival Dubawi. It was always on the cards given their respective age profiles that Dubawi mares, if they were good enough, might benefit Frankel. Truth be told, it took Dubawi a while to get going as a broodmare sire, not surprising given that his early crops did not contain the quality of pedigree as his more recent crops did. But there is no question that Dubawi has Frankel to thank for raising his profile as a broodmare sire. Four of Dubawi’s seven Group 1 winners are sired by Frankel, headed by two of the very best in Derby and King George winner Adayar (Timeform 131) and Juddmonte International scorer Mostahdaf (TF129). Classic winner Homeless Songs is another. Dubawi mares have so far produced 5.5% stakes winners, but an altogether more impressive 12.4% from the better-bred among them. Together, Frankel and daughters of Dubawi have come up with 24.4% stakes winners from runners.

Frankel’s alliance with daughters of Pivotal (20.6% stakes winners) also bears scrutiny in that it outscores both Frankel’s and Pivotal’s own stakes-winner strike-rates. Five of their seven stakes winners are Group 1 winners with multiple Group 1 heroine Nashwa representing a combination in 2023 that is already responsible for Ace Impact’s sire Cracksman.

The other sire-broodmare sire combination with a 50% strike-rate is Dubawi with daughters of his former stud companion Dubai Destination. The foundation stone for this partnership was laid by four-time Group 1 winner Postponed ten years ago, but it has come up with four Godolphin-bred stakes winners since.

To his credit, Dubawi has no fewer than 12 broodmare sire partnerships represented by a Group winner last year that outscore his own excellent 17.1% stakes winners to runners. From daughters of Dalakhani, he’s sired four stakes winners (40%) from ten runners, featuring Group 1 Futurity Trophy winner Ancient Wisdom. His association with young broodmare sire Sea The Stars has given us the Roger Varian-trained Group 1 winners Eldar Eldarov (St Leger and Irish St Leger) and Nassau Stakes heroine Al Husn among four stakes winners (36.4%) from just 11 runners.

Daughters of Montjeu have provided the sisters Journey, winner of the Group 1 British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes, and Group 2 May Hill scorer Indigo Girl, plus the Coolmore-bred Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed Emily Dickinson.

The aforementioned Street Cry mare Minidress provided a Group 1 winner for Frankel, but she had already done the same favour for Dubawi through Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Rebel’s Romance, who is one of six stakes winners (30%) from 20 runners by Dubawi out of a Street Cry mare. Other broodmare sires with both a healthy percentage of stakes winners and a Group 1 scorer by Dubawi include Dansili (27%), sire of the dams of Naval Crown and Nezwaah; New Approach (26.7%), responsible for the dam of five-time Group 1 winner Modern Games; Giant’s Causeway (23.8%), broodmare sire of four-time Group 1 winner Lord North; Monsun (23.1%), whose daughter Montare bred brother and sister duo Yibir and Wild Illusion; and Danehill Dancer (20%), broodmare sire of Kitesurf.

Night Of Thunder: has fared well with Dansili-line mares. Photo – Darley

It is yet another pair of top-class siblings, Baaeed (TF137) and Hukum (TF130), that underpin the potent combination (37.5% stakes winners) of Sea The Stars and Kingmambo. Sea The Stars had also worked well with Monsun mares (33% stakes winners), his German Group 1 winner and highly competent sire son Sea The Moon being a standout example of the cross.

Just as Dubawi has found a niche with daughters of Dansili, so too has his up-and-coming sire son Night Of Thunder, who has four stakes winners (30.8%) from 13 runners, headed by the progressive Group 2 Debutante Stakes winner and Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes runner-up Vespertilio.

Another Juddmonte broodmare sire of note in recent times is Oasis Dream and it is easy to understand the success this top-class speed influence has had with sons of Galileo which account for five of Oasis Dream’s 12 Group 1 winners as a broodmare sire. The best exponent of the Galileo sons is Teofilo who is responsible for three of the five Group/Grade 1 winners including Melbourne Cup hero Twilight Payment, plus Godolphin’s US and German Group 1 scorer Nations Pride and Prix Saint-Alary winner Tawkeel. In all, Teofilo has five stakes winners (29.4%) from his 17 runners out of Oasis Dream mares.

Meanwhile, two of No Nay Never’s four stakes winners (25%) from Oasis Dream mares are 2023 two-year-old Group 2 winners Array and Les Pavots.

Remarkably, there are a total of 47 sire-broodmare sire combinations with a stakes-winner strike rate of 20% or higher that satisfied the criteria of having a 2023 Group winner and ten career runners or more bred on the relevant cross. And, of course, there are many just below 20% that can be deemed highly significant.