Will Kinsey gives us a rundown of his 5 Sires To Follow this season.

POSTPONED 

When POSTPONED first went to stud at Dalham Hall, he stood for £20,000, so he is obviously regarded as top-class over the middle distances. 

However, he was a horse who progressed well with age and probably didn’t suit the Flat market, with it being early two-year-old types and all about speed, so they reduced his fee. He had his first year at Yorton Farm last year and I’ve seen plenty of good foals by him at the sales and elsewhere. His stats are strong both on the National Hunt scene and on the Flat: he has a strike rate of 40% on the Flat and, for Jumps, a strike rate of 45%. People can’t really argue with that. 

His first crop are six-year-olds now and he’s only going to cover more National Hunt specialist mares, so there is going to be more to come. He’s very exciting, being out of a Dubai Destination broodmare, so I think he has a lot going for him. 

FRONTIERSMAN 

FRONTIERSMAN is regally bred, out of Ouija Board and a half-brother to Australia. Obviously, Australia was by Galileo, and this lad is by Dubawi. 

He went straight to covering National Hunt mares, at Overbury Stud, and what they did was open his fee at around £1,000. It was a case of getting him started, getting as many mares to him as possible, and giving him a chance. His eldest crop are five now and his fee has since risen to £2,000. 

What’s interesting is that if you had said to me that Dubawi would have an influence in the National Hunt sphere, I would have said no, and yet my first two stallions are by Dubawi. The few we have had have been very athletic with good attitudes. I think it’s because they are so tough, durable and sound, good honest horses. Regardless of what they look like, those attributes are having an influence in National Hunt breeding. 

He remains a very cheap stallion covering more affordable mares, and his statistics are very good, with a 50% winners to runners ratio on the Flat and a 46% strike rate over jumps. These results have come from fairly moderate mares, yet he is now attracting a lot of interest, so you would expect even more to come from him. From fairly humble beginnings, he has done well with what he has had, and he probably deserves more opportunities going forward. 

JIGME 

Thirdly, we will go across to France for a younger stallion called JIGME. He was a top class hurdler over there and is a very well bred horse. 

He’s actually a very big horse being by Motivator, who in turn is very close to my heart because he’s the sire of Stormy Ireland and he’s from the family of Sinndar. 

He’s only been standing for two years, so his first crop of foals are on the ground now. 

So, although there isn’t anything to follow on the track in terms of runners at the moment, it’ll be interesting to see how they get on in the sale ring because the French market has been well sort after in the last couple of years. Everyone’s always looking for the next best thing.  

CRYSTAL OCEAN  

Next up is CRYSTAL OCEAN in Ireland. He was a very commercial stallion when he went to stud, being the highest-rated Flat horse ever to go straight to the National Hunt ranks. The reason I’ve included him now is because his first crop are now four-year-olds.  

Standing at Coolmore, with both his pedigree and race record, he naturally covered some of the best mares. Many would argue that he has the strongest chance of success, as he has both the numbers and the quality. 

We actually bred a Crystal Ocean filly out of Miss Bailey, a half-sister to Romeo Coolio and Ascending Lark. She was due to run in a point-to-point last year but was bought privately before she ran. She’s now with Harry Derham, so it’ll be interesting to see how she gets on. 

There’s been a lot of positive talk about the stallion, plenty of winners on the point-to-point scene and it’ll be fascinating to see what follows on the track this autumn and winter. 

POET’S WORD 

Also in Ireland, you’ve got POET’S WORD. I believe he stood for a year in England at Nunnery Stud before moving over to Boardsmill Stud. He’s been very successful in the sales ring, producing good-looking, big, scopey foals. 

His first crop are now five-year-olds, and he already has progeny running on the track. His statistics are very strong, with an impressive strike rate of over 50% on the Flat, which is phenomenal.  

Among his early National Hunt runners, he’s had winners under rules as well as in point-to-points. He’s by Poet’s Voice, a son of Dubawi, making him another representative of the Dubawi line, a bloodline that’s clearly having a growing influence in the National Hunt sphere. 

CAPRI 

Last but not least, and a bit of a curveball, there’s a horse named CAPRI who is standing just down the road from me at Willow Wood Farm. He’s a son of Galileo out of an Anabaa mare, which makes him interesting. Granted, he’s no longer at Coolmore, but they have such a wealth of talent in both racehorses and stallions. He retired the same year as Crystal Ocean, so all of a sudden you had two high-quality racehorses competing for the same book of mares. Ultimately, breeders tend to favour one over the other, but Capri is a very good-looking horse who was a high-class two-year-old and a top-class three-year-old, having won both the Irish Derby and the St Leger. 

He’s grey, very attractive, and we’ve used him in his first crop, which are on the ground this year. We really like what we’ve seen so far in terms of their physicals. He’s had quite a few placed runners under rules already, and they’re looking quite progressive. I’m not saying he’s the next big thing, but he’s still on people’s radars. I think he’s a nice horse who’s going to prove good value.