There are so many ways in which we can evaluate the performance of sires and while sire tables for two and three year old sires are common, sire tables based on distance parameters are not and they do offer a unique insight into where the strength of a stallion can really be found.
Short Course Sprint Sires
Sprinter / Miler Sires
The distance tables above showcase the stallions that are at the very top of the Australian General Sires List as there are far more races run over these distances in Australia than the 1600m and upwards range.
Also consider that nearly all the two year-old races are run in this distance range so sires that deliver with juveniles are also flattered by these tables.
The big change comes when we look at sire tables of 1600m to 2000m and then 2000m and upwards with a very different set of sires coming to the fore.
Several of the sires that are prominent in the sprint tables are nowhere to be seen in the longer distance tables which probably highlights why Written Tycoon will take the crown as Australian’s Champion Sire by earnings for 2020/2021.
He tops none of these tables, but appears in the Top 10 of three of them finishing fourth in short course sprints, second in the sprinter miler and a more than respectable ninth in the miler/ middle distance category.
That versatility is what will win him his first national sire’s title.
The only other stallion that features in the Top 10 of three of the four distance tables is So You Think, who is likely to finish fifth on the overall sire’s table by earnings in a personal best year for him.
Earlier in his stud career, So You Think was thought to be a sire of stayers, but that would appear to be a myth.
Yes he does get stayers, and some really good ones, but he also gets plenty of faster horses capable of performing at much shorter trips, which does make you wonder how many of his early stock may have been overtrained to stay and ended up average at a distance that was never their optimum in the first place.
Miler / Middle Distance Sires
Staying Sires