WESTERN WINTER (USA)
I'll start at the top. This guy is top class. He has been Champion Sire three times and sire of the Horse of the Year twice. He has produced 19 GR1 winners of 35 GR1 races from his 12 crops to date (553 runners). Those GR1 wins have ranged from 5 furlongs to 16 furlongs. His Gr1 winners by distance: 5f (2), 6f (5), 7f (2), 8f (14), 9f (3), 10f (2), 12f (1), 16f (1) His primary range is 5 to 10 furlongs, centered around a mile. Western Winter is a son of Gone West (Mr Prospector) and Chilly Hostess, a Vice Regent (Northern Dancer) mare. |
FORT WOOD (USA)
This is another special sire. He has been Champion Sire, sire of the Horse of the Year three times, and is the sire our greatest ever racehorse: Horse Chestnut. If you don't know about Horse Chestnut, take a look at the You Tube clips I posted the links to on the sim forum:http://derbyfever.com/hr/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10199. Fort Wood has produced 14 GR1 winners of 28 GR1 races from his 15 crops to date (669 runners). Those GR1 wins have ranged from 7 furlongs to 16 furlongs. His Gr1 winners by distance: 7f (1), 8f (7), 9f (5), 10f (6), 11f (3), 12f (2), 16f (1) His primary range is 8 to 12 furlongs. With regular winners, he gets about half the sprinters and double the marathoners compared with Western Winter. Fort Wood is a son of Sadler's Wells (Northern Dancer) and Fall Aspen, a Pretense (Endeavour) mare. |
DYNASTY (SAf)
Horse of the Year and Champion Classic 3 year old in 2003, this son of Fort Wood has got off to a very good start as a stallion. From his first four crops to race (156 runners), he has produced 3 Gr1 winners (a Horse of the Year and another dual Gr1 winner), 3 Gr2 winners and 5 stakes winner with a total of 15 GR wins. His Gr1 wins have come at 10f (1), 11f (2), 12f (1), and 16f (1) clearly showing that he has similar stamina traits to Fort Wood. He has a lot of regular winners in the miler category (and a Gr3 winner over 7f) but his classy runners are all 10f+ horses. Dynasty is a son of Fort Wood (Sadler's Wells) and Blake's Affair, a Commodore Blake (Blakeney) mare. |
TRIPPI (USA)
Trippi began stud duties in the USA in 2002 before moving to South Africa. His first local foals were born in 2009, so he has only had 1 local crop (45 runners) complete a full season of racing. From that crop, he has had 2 GR3 winners, a stakes winner, a gr1 placed, a gr3 placed and a stakes placed. In the USA, he had a GR1 winner of 3 GR races, three GR2 winners, four GR3 winners, and fourteen stakes winners (excl. restricted stakes, Puerto Rico etc). Personally, I think he still has to prove he's as good as the hype says he is, but he's certainly worth using in the sim while he's attracting all this attention. Something interesting to note, though I don't know if this will carry into the sim, is that his US Gr1 winner and all three of his SAf GR/STK winners are fillies. Distance wise, his foals appear to be much like him. Trippi was something of a 7f specialist, though he did win a 9f Gr3. His progeny GR winners have scored over 5f (2), 6f (4), 7f (2), 8f (4), 9f (1). Trippi is a son of End Sweep (Forty Niner) and Jealous Appeal, a Valid Appeal (In Reality) mare. |
CAPTAIN AL (SAf)
Champion Sire of Juveniles for the last three seasons, and runner up to the incomparable Jet Master on the overall sires log once. He has sired 5 Gr1 winners of 10 GR races from his first 8 crops (459 runners), plus a further 14 GR winners of 17 GR races. His GR1 wins have come at 6f (2), 8f (3), 9f (1) making him very much a sprinter miler influence. This is confirmed by the general trend of his lower class winners too. He has managed a Gr3 winner over 12f though. Captain Al is a son of Al Mufti (Roberto) and Off To War, a Complete Warrior (Dewan) mare. SILVANO (Ger) Silvano began stud duties in Germany in 2002 before moving to South Africa in 2003 (first foals born 2004). He has been doing really well, having sired 7 GR1 winners of 9 GR1 races in South Africa from 6 crops to race (380 runners). His Gr1 winners have scored at 8f (1), 9f (1), 10f (3), 11f (1), 12f (2) and 16f (1). Clearly we're looking at another stamina influence, more than Western Winter but less than Fort Wood. Silvano is a son of Lomitas (Niniski) and Spirit of Eagles, a Beau's Eagle (Golden Eagle II) mare. |
PHILANTHROPIST (USA)
This guy rounds out the R100k+ group of sires. He began stud duties in Canada in 2006 and only arrived in South Africa for the 2012 breeding season (first foals expected 2013). He only had 61 foals total (41 runners) from his first two crops and managed to produce 5 stakes winners, including Pender Harbour. This colt won two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown and was GR2 placed. Overall, it doesn't look particularly amazing, but it was enough to earn him 4th place on the Apex A ratings mentioned on the sim message board. Besides, 12.2% stakes winners to runners is quite impressive, even if none are GR level yet. Things are looking up for him, as he covered 200 mares in the past two seasons in Canada, plus 110 mares in his first local season (including both Gr1 winners and Gr1 producers). For now, I'd expect him to be rated in line with his fee when compared with the other SAf-based sires. Distance wise, his stakes winners have scored at 6f (1), 7f (1), 8f (3), 9f (1) and 12f (1). So far that looks quite versatile, centered around a mile. Philanthropist won 6 times over 9 and 9.5 furlongs, his best being a 9.5f Gr3. He is a son of Kris S (Roberto) and Hidden Reserve, a Mr Prospector (Raise A Native) mare. |
VISIONAIRE (USA)
There's not too much for us to go on here, and I haven't specifically discussed Visionaire with Mike, as far as I can recall. He stood a season in USA in 2010 (those foals just turned two?) before coming to South Africa, so no runners to help us. At R20k his stud fee is not high, but it is above the R10k median. It's the same level as A.P. Arrow who has been quite successful in the sim, if overpriced due to US player base popularity. Maybe we can expect much the same from Visionaire. Visionaire won his races over 6.5 to 8.5 furlongs, including a Gr1 over 7 furlongs, so he's likely to be a sprinter miler influence. Visionaire is a son of Grand Slam (Gone West) and Scarlet Tango, a French Deputy (Deputy Minister) mare. BRAVE TIN SOLDIER (USA) Like Visionaire, we don't have much to go on here. Brave Tin Soldier began stud duties in 2010, so his first foals are now yearlings. He stands at the same farm as Visionaire, but for slightly less at R15k. He won races from 6f to 8.5f, competing in Ireland, France, USA and Dubai, his best being an 8.5f Gr3 as a 5 year old. For now, I would expect him to be rated more or less where his fee has him, slightly above the average SAf-based sires. Brave Tin Soldier has an attention grabbing pedigree though. He is a son of Storm Cat (Storm Bird) and Bless, a Mr Prospector (Raise A Native) mare. |
VAR (USA) (Pictured above)
Var has had a sensational start to his stud career. He's been vastly underrated in the sim, but hopefully that has been corrected and now is the time to use him. A high class sprinter (TFR 124), Var won the Gr1 Prix de l'Abbaye in a time of 55 seconds and was European Champion in 2004. He's passing all of that speed through to his progeny. His runners tend to come flying out of the stalls and just zip along and not get caught! From his 4 racing crops to date (209 runners), he has produced 4 GR1 winners, 3 GR2 winners and 2 GR3 winners of a total of 20 GR races. His GR wins have been over 5f (4), 6f (7), 7f (1), 7.5f (1), 8f (6), 12f (1). The 12f is clearly an outlier, and all six of the mile wins were by one horse, star 3 year old colt Variety Club. Var is a son of Forest Wildcat (Storm Cat) and Loma Preata, a Zilzal (Nureyev) mare. |
KING OF KINGS (IRE)
This guy has been a globe trotter of note. He began stud duties in Australia (1999), moved to USA (2000), Japan (2003), New Zealand (2004), Switzerland (2005) and now South Africa since 2006. He was champion sire of 2 year olds in New Zealand in 2003 and finished 5th on the SAf juvenile sires log for the 2011/12 season (behind Captain Al, Var, Trippi and Victory Moon). With 10 crops having raced, he has sired 3 Gr1 winners, 4 Gr2 winners and 6 Gr3 winners of a total of 19 GR races. Those are decent figures, but not in the league of the top sires we have here. From his 3 crops to race in South Africa so far (171 runners), he has had only 1 stakes winner, King's Temptress. She won the Gr2 SA Fillies Nursery in 2012. Couple that modest local record with his stud fee having been reduced from R30k (2009 and 2010) to R20k (2011 and 2012), and I'd guess that his best days are behind him. His last two sim crops don't look particularly promising either. Despite being a son of Sadler's Wells, most of his real life progeny's success has come in the sprinter miler category, though he has a Gr2 winner over 16f. King Of Kings is a son of Sadler's Wells (Northern Dancer) and Zummerudd, a Habitat (Sir Gaylord) mare. |
TIGER RIDGE (USA)
Tiger Ridge began stud duties in the USA in 2001, before moving to South Africa in 2006. He was champion freshman sire in both Florida and South Africa. From his 3 local racing crops to date (125 runners), he has produced 5 stakes winners, one of them at Gr2 level. His overall record of 5 GR winners of 9 GR races (one Gr1 amongst them) from 9 racing crops doesn't look particularly impressive. His fee dropped from 100k in 2010 to the current R80k but I'm inclined to think that he's still overpriced. That said, his current sim price of 51 bp's could be tempting if you want to take the chance that his sim ability reflects his position as one of the joint 8th highest priced stallions in South Africa. For distance preferences, let's look as his 9 GR wins: 6f (1), 7f (3), 8f (3), 8.5f (1), 10f (1). He's also had stakes winners at 4f and 16f. Looks pretty versatile but most likely to produce milers. Tiger Ridge is a son of Storm Cat (Storm Bird) and Weekend Surprise, a Secretariat (Bold Ruler) mare. |
TWICE OVER (GB) (pictured above)
This was a serious racehorse. He raced in UK, France, Dubai and USA, won 12 times and placed 14 times earning over $4m. Amongst his wins were 4 Gr1's at ages 4,5 and 6, along with GR1 places at age 3 and 7. As a 2 year old, he was unbeaten in two starts. His Gr1 wins were at 10f (3) and 10.5f. He was champion older horse in Europe in 2010 and TFR 128. His sire, Observatory, has only produced one other Gr1 winner so far but only started stud in 2003 and was himself a champion racehorse, TFR 131. Twice Over's fee seems a little high to start with, but he's standing at a top farm (Klawervlei) alongside the likes of Captain Al. If he gets the mares, and it's likely that he will, he should be a success. His sim bp price at this very moment is 492, the highest of the entire SAf list. It's not surprising considering that more of the player base would recognize him. I wouldn't call that value though, relative to his real life stud fee and others priced around the same mark. Twice Over is a son of Observatory (Distant View) and Double Crossed, a Caerleon (Nijinsky II) mare. |
NATIONAL EMBLEM (SAf)
This old guy is now 21 and at the tail end of his stud career. He's actually listed as 'fee on application' but his last quoted fee was R80k and should still be reflected as such in the sim. He's had 13 crops to race (704 runners) and produced 10 Gr1 winners. In total, he has sired 17 GR winners of 41 GR races. That's a solid return that deserves more respect in the sim than his current bp cost of 40. His Gr1 winners have scored at the following distances: 5f (3), 6f (4), 8f (2), 9f (2), 11f (1). His overall figures for all runners confirm a tendency towards sprints, and his sire was a strong speed influence, but he did manage to sire that 11f July winner, as well as 2 Gr3 winners over 14.25f. As a racehorse, he won 15 times from 5.75f to 10f, including 3 GR1's (9f, 10f, 10f), earned more than R2m, and was champion older horse. National Emblem is a son of National Assembly (Danzig) and Title Page, a Welsh Harmony (Tudor Melody) mare. |