BIG NAMES TOP 2017ABC RUNNER LIST
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In the APEX (Annual Progeny Earnings index) system of rating stallions, ABC Runners are the top 8% earners from runners in a year. We call them "break-even-or-better" runners; they're not necessarily stars (though ABC Runners include A Runners, Group winners, etc.), but they at least pay their way or come close. Here we're looking at sires of ABC Runners for the year 2017 only. In North America that meant earners of $64,025 or more; in Britain/Ireland, earners of $27,672 (about £20,000); and in France, earners of $40,786 (about €35,000) or more. So this is a snapshot of the year 2017.
The 2017 auction yearling market stated very plainly there are five top commercial super-sires in North America and Europe, all of whose yearlings averaged over $650,000 whereas the number six commercial sire in NA/EU, Medaglia D'Oro, at least last year averaged under $400,000. Not surprisingly there is still a high correlation between yearling average, current stud fee, and performance on the racetrack. One of the top five, Juddmonte's Frankel, missed the list of 23 NA/EU sires with 30+ 2017 ABC Runners by one, as he had 29; but then, he only had 3-year-olds in 2017, and if we compare him with other sires with first 3-year-olds - Shackleford is second, with 18.
Three sires had 50+ ABC Runners in 2017: sure enough, Coolmore's World Number One, Galileo, led the list with 64 ABC Runners last year. Darley's World Number Two, Dubawi, was second with 55, and North America's number one, Gainesway's three-time Leading Sire, Tapit, had 50. Claiborne's War Front, the fourth super-sire on the list, was tied for seventh with 41 ABC Runners last year, but he did have fewer runners than the other three.
Five other NA/EU stallions had 40+ ABC Runners in 2017. Hill 'n' Dale's new recruit, Kitten's Joy, had 46, ahead of Coolmore's deceased Scat Daddy (44), Spendthrift's Into Mischief (43), and Lane's End's Candy Ride tied with War Front, with 41. Into Mischief is one of only three sires on the list whose first foals were 2010 or younger, the other two being Lane's End's top F2012 sire, Quality Road and Coolmore Ashford's budding superstar, Uncle Mo, who had 33 A Runners each in 2017.
Naturally 'A Runners' are the most important component of the ABC Runner list, and here again Galileo led Dubawi, 33 to 30, by number of 2017 A Runners. Galileo's 2017 A Runner Index therefore works out at 4.88, but Dubawi's is even higher: he had a 6.22 A Runner Index in 2017. Three other NA/EU sires had 20+ 2017 A Runners: Scat Daddy (23), War Front (21), and Kitten's Joy (20). Spendthrift's Malibu Moon had 17 A Runners last year; Tapit, Frankel, and Gilltown Stud's Sea The Stars each had 16; and five horses had 15 A Runners each: Candy Ride, Quality Road, Uncle Mo, Yeomanstown Stud's Dark Angel, and Darley's Medaglia D'Oro.
Among the younger crops of sires, we look first at sires with first foals 2013, first 4-year-olds of 2017. Uncle Mo, with 33 ABC Runners in 2017, is the runaway leader, with perennial number two, Lane's End's Twirling Candy, in his usual second spot, with 22. Archarcharch, who was sold to South Korea, ranked third with 16 ABC Runners in 2017. Haras de Grandcamp's Dream Ahead was tied for fourth, with 15 (he was also number two F2013 NA/EU sire, with seven 2017 A Runners), along with Florida's Double Diamond Farm's First Dude and Claiborne's Trappe Shot. Another horse exported to South Korea, Girolamo, had 14, along with another Florida stallion, Ocala Stud's Adios Charlie.
Frankel, as mentioned, is even further ahead among his F2014 sire crop, which had their first 3-year-olds in 2017. He had 29 ABC Runners (15 of them A Runners, same as Uncle Mo) last year. Second was Darby Dan's Shackleford, with 18, followed by Stay Thirsty (16), who was deported from Kentucky to California. Airdrie's Creative Cause and Darby Dan's Dia1ed In had 12 ABC Runners each in 2017, followed by Lane's End's Union Rags and England's Newsells Park Stud's Nathaniel, sire of 2017 European Horse Of The Year and G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner, Enable, each with 11. G1 Preakness winner Cloud Computing's sire, Hill 'n' Dale's Maclean's Music and Coolmore Ireland's Excelebration, sire of G1 St. James's Palace S. winner Barney Roy, had 10 ABC Runners each in 2017.
North America's surprise Leading 2017 Freshman Sire, WinStar's Overdriven, was the top sire of 2017 ABC Runners, with seven among his first crop of 2-year-olds. Hill 'n' Dale's commercial darling, Violence, had six ABC Runners in his first crop last year (no A Runners, but five B Runners); France's Haras de Grandcamp now stands Dabarsim, who stood his first three seasons in Germany; he has five ABC Runners right out of the box, which ties him with England's Leading Freshman sire of 2017, deceased Society Rock. American stallions Declaration of War (Coolmore; first crop in Ireland, since in Kentucky), Animal Kingdom (Darley), and Justin Philip (Castleton Lyons) each had four 2017 ABC Runners among their first crops of 2-year-olds.