The movers and shakers in this year's Weatherbys Return of Mares

This article was first published in November 2019

Christmas comes early for those in the bloodstock industry as the Weatherbys Return of Mares is due to drop on doormats in early November. It will land with a pleasing thud, as it is a weighty tome listing every foal birth registered in Britain and Ireland in the past year, as well as the coverings for all stallions based on these islands.

There are many hundreds of pages packed densely with tiny text to get through – and don't bet against a lot of breeders, agents and pedigree nerds managing it, cover to cover – but it is the small section at the back containing the index of stallions with their book sizes that most will eagerly flick to first.

It is therefore with a spoiler alert for those diehards looking forward to doing their own research that we outline some of the most significant numbers among this year's covering activity.

Not that the identity of the busiest sires of 2019 would be much of a surprise anyway. Soldier Of Fortune leads the way for the fourth year in a row, with 275 in his book – including unregistered and/or unnamed mares – although this time he is joined at the top by newcomer Order Of St George.

Both are Group 1-winning sons of Galileo who stand under the Coolmore National Hunt banner, Soldier Of Fortune at The Beeches Stud and Order Of St George at Castlehyde.

Coolmore's continued dominance of the jumps stallion marketplace is writ large in the list of busiest names in the past year, with the ever-popular Grange Stud-based pair of Getaway and Walk In The Park third and fourth with 253 and 242 mares each.

Sioux Nation, a son of Scat Daddy stood by Coolmore at Castlehyde Stud, was the fifth most active sire and the most popular of any designated for the Flat with 241 mares in his debut book.

Of the 19 stallions to have covered 200 or more mares in 2019, 12 are members of the Coolmore roster, whether housed at the operation's Fethard base or at Castlehyde, Grange or The Beeches.

The other members of the 200 club were Wings Of Eagles (235), Australia (229), Kingston Hill (228), Mahler (227), Idaho (225), Zoffany (216) and Churchill (214).

Noted good-looker Wings Of Eagles appears to have captured the imagination of breeders in his first season at The Beeches, while Idaho, a Galileo brother to Highland Reel who was also a newcomer to the stud this year, evidently did a good job of luring punters.

By my reckoning, The Beeches had around 1,250 mares through its gates to visit the eight stallions who stood there this year. If nothing else, that is testament to the administrative skills and hard work of the staff at the County Waterford stud, overseen by the father-son team of Bobby and Robert McCarthy.

Clamour for Kingman

Kingman was the busiest stallion outside of Coolmore ownership this year with 235 mares covered, Juddmonte seemingly having relaxed a policy of more conservative book sizes to accommodate enormous demand for his services.

The previous high for Kingman was 167 mares two years ago, but a quick scan of the concubines who graced his court at Banstead Manor Stud in 2019 shows why putting up the 'sold out' sign might have proved difficult.

Outside breeders sent Group/Grade 1 winners Acoma, Alexander Goldrun, Arabian Queen, Danedream, Dolniya, Fallen For You, Finsceal Beo, Fourstar Crook, Ghanaati, Great Heavens, Kitesurf, Majmu, Miss Beatrix, Montare, Nightime, Nuovo Record, Sajjhaa, Sariska, Seal Of Approval, Sky Lantern, Speedy Boarding and Thistle Bird.

They also entrusted the dams of celebrities Aclaim, Arcano, Beauty Parlour, Billesdon Brook, Charming Thought, Legatissimo, Maarek, Persian King, Silasol and Star Of Seville to the son of Invincible Spirit.

That might seem a lengthy list but it is actually just scratching the surface of a book that is quite breathtaking in its depth of quality; not least because it does not include the many Juddmonte stars served by the stallion.

In-demand jumps sires

Coolmore might have the largest market share in jumps breeding, but they by no means have a monopoly and there were several other stallions who mare owners seem to have latched on to in the past 12 months.

Diamond Boy proved no one-season wonder at Kilbarry Lodge Stud, with another 233 mares covered to go with his book of 235 in 2018, when he was imported to the County Waterford operation from France.

Affinisea, the lightly raced but winning Sea The Stars three-parts brother to Soldier Of Fortune, covered by far his largest number of mares in his three years at Whytemount Stud – 227, up from 123 in 2018 and 130 in 2017 – from which it might be inferred that breeders like the young stock on the ground by him.

A surprise package on the list of busiest sires this year was Berkshire in his first season at Kedrah House Stud after spending his first covering season in France. The Royal Lodge Stakes-winning son of Mount Nelson and Prix de l'Opera heroine Kinnaird was sent 203 mares, the sort of number surely only attainable by an unproven sire if they are beguiling breeders with their good looks.

Shade Oak Stud resident Telescope covered a book of uncommon breadth for a jumps sire based in Britain, with 190 notches on his bedpost this year. That figure, up from 121 in 2018, made him the second busiest sire in the country behind Kingman.

The exploits of jumps Graded winners Draconien and Tout Est Permis helped another British-based National Hunt stallion, Linda's Lad at Vauterhill Stud, surge in popularity from 44 mares to 122 in a year.

Back in Ireland, Casamento was given a warm welcome at Sunnyhill Stud after being brought in from the cold – he had spent 2018 in Sweden, after all – with the son of in-form Shamardal receiving 161 mares in his first dual-purpose book.

On the up

Another noteworthy case of a stallion increasing his book size in a year when covering numbers dropped by around two per cent overall was Dandy Man, a reliable source of precocity and pace who was more than twice as busy at Ballyhane Stud as he was in 2018, with 215 covers versus 103.

Value seekers got stuck into Dragon Pulse in his seventh season at the Irish National Stud, taking his book from 63 to 131, while a fine year on the track for Camacho – headlined by Teppal and Signora Cabello – resulted in an increase from 72 to 150 mares booked in to him at Yeomanstown Stud.

Kuroshio, retrieved from Australia to stand at Clongiffen Stud this year after his small sole European crop punched well above its weight in 2018, attracted 108 bookings to reward a bold move by the team behind him, including Billy Jackson-Stops and Micheal Orlandi.

It was also pleasing for those of us who value middle-distance breeding to see that Sea The Stars and Sea The Moon are continuing to command the respect of breeders.

The father received 186 mares at Gilltown Stud, up from 162 in the preceding year, and the son, whose debut two-year-olds in 2018 proved to be more precocious than might have been thought, was recognised with a surge of renewed interest at Lanwades. He covered 164 mares, up from 101.

BUSIEST SIRES IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND IN 2019

Order Of St George 275
Soldier Of Fortune 275
Getaway 253
Walk In The Park 242
Sioux Nation 241
Kingman 235
Wings Of Eagles 235
Diamond Boy 233
Australia 229
Kingston Hill 228
Affinisea 227
Mahler 227
Idaho 225
Zoffany 216
Dandy Man 215
Kodiac 215
Churchill 214
Lope De Vega 207
Berkshire 203
Telescope 190
Elusive Pimpernel 188
Sea The Stars 186
Footstepsinthesand 184
Gleneagles 182
No Nay Never 180

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