SHAMARDAL AND DUBAWI HEAD WORLD STALLION RANKS

Shamardal
(Photo : Stallions)

“FROM WHENCE THEY COME”

You may wonder why it is that we keep posting lists of the North American and European sires. The short answer is, they’re often the source of our own stallion stock, and the performance of their progeny informs our selections. In his latest review of the third crop sires of those two regions, the world’s greatest analyst, Bill Oppenheim, has ranked them by what he calls the Apex index, and by how prolific they are as producers of Stakes winners. There’s an earnings bias in favour of the North Americans, and so earnings alone is not a reliable guide. America holds a strong hand with its second and fourth season horses, but Europe certainly has the upper arm with those who have progeny just rising four. The outstanding leaders of that lot are Shamardal (by Giant’s Causeway) and Dubawi (by Dubai Destination), both Darley stallions standing in Europe. Here are the stats :

LEADING F2007 SIRES BY A RUNNER INDEX

Sire	Region	Rank 2011	Rank Cum	A Index	ABC Index
SHAMARDAL	EUR	27	1	2.66	1.93
DUBAWI	EUR	13	2	3.66	1.65
WILCAT HEIR	USA	3	3	1.31	2.36
AFLEET ALEX	USA	1	4	2.73	1.78
ROMAN RULER	USA	2	5	1.03	1.16
POLLARD’S VISION	USA	22	6	1.15	1.15
KITTEN’S JOY	USA	6	7	1.26	1.42
GHOSTZAPPER	USA	4	8	1.42	2.48
OFFLEE WILD	USA	25	9	2.27	1.48
SAINT LIAM	USA	23	10	2.61	1.63
CLOSING ARGUMENT	USA	10	11	1.30	0.97
LIMEHOUSE	USA	14	12	1.39	1.04
GRAND REWARD	USA	11	13	1.31	0.65
PURGE	USA	19	14	0.55	0.82
CONSOLIDATOR	USA	12	15	0.59	0.74
FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND	EUR	36	16	0.81	1.34
EUROSILVER	USA	9	17	0.31	0.78
VALUE PLUS	USA	15	18	0.74	0.83
ROCK HARD TEN	USA	21	19	2.55	1.79
LEROIDESANIMAUX	USA	7	20	3.33	1.50
ORATORIO	EUR	40	21	1.43	0.71
SOUTHERN IMAGE	USA	5	22	0.41	0.72
EDDINGTON	USA	8	27	0.00	0.46
ORATORY	USA	16	31	0.62	0.77

Statistics Thoroughbred Daily News

North America always has an earnings advantage though, so when European sires progeny have higher earnings than their American counterparts, that by itself is big news. The real measures of superiority in this case are the Black type comparisons : Dubawi has 11 group/graded stakes winners (North American crops) to date, Shamardal has 10. The leading North American sires are Afleet Alex and Rock Hard Ten, with four each. Dubawi has 18 Black-type winners, Shamardal 16; Afleet Alex (13) and Wildcat Heir (10) are tops in North America. Total Black type horses: Dubawi 28, Shamardal 26; Afleet Alex has 22, Wildcat Heir 18 as does Coolmore’s European sire Footstepsinthesand.