Epsom hero Pour Moi heads list of new recruits to British and Irish stud ranks

DERBY winner Pour Moi heads the 2012 intake of 19 new stallions in Britain and Ireland, which represents a drop of almost a third from the number who retired to stud in 2011. Only four of those stallions – the Coolmore duo Canford Cliffs and Pour Moi, Ballylinch Stud’s Dream Ahead and Darley’s Poet’s Voice – stand for five figures, while only eight stand for £5,000/€5,000 or more. Compare that to a year ago when Makfi, at £25,000, headed a group of 15 stallions available at £5,000/€5,000 or above.

In terms of racecourse performance, the 11 Irish retirees are an undoubtedly stronger group than those in Britain; between them, Canford Cliffs, Dream Ahead, Frozen Fire, Pour Moi, Roderic O’connor and Zoffany won 15 Group 1 races. Their strength as a group is borne out by the fact that the average fee of new Irish stallions this year is € 8,850, up from € 7,035 a year ago.

The British stallion ranks have welcomed three Group 1 winners in Dick Turpin, Poet’s Voice and Eastern Anthem. Yet the list represents a distinct bias towards dual-purpose horses, which has resulted in the average British stud fee more than halving from £6,045 in 2011 to £3,325.