Influence of Sires

If there is such a thing as a sire’s influence, then the distance over which his progeny win will show that influence. Simply compare your sire’s figures to that of the average stallion, and Bob’s your Uncle - or is he?

Shown in the stamina table are several years worth of winners, added together (the balance of distance categories in the SA racing programme hasn’t changed in the last years).

The wins for each sire were placed in one of five categories:
sprinter (1000 to 1300m)
sprint/miler (1400 and 1500m)
miler (1600 to 1800m)
middle distance stayer (1900 to 2200m)
stayer (2300m and more)

We then calculated the percentage of winners in each category.
The way to read the table is by comparing a sire’s percentages to that of the average sires.
One way to come to a conclusion is by simply comparing percentages with the average in each group and see where the sire is bigger than average.

Another way can be by using the method of elimination: ask yourself what a sire does NOT do. Golden Thatch, for instance, is way below the average with stayers, middle distance stayers and milers. Only 12% of Golden Thatch progeny’s wins came over more than 1500m (for the average sire that figure is 47%!).

Conclusion: if you want to buy a miler and pick a Golden Thatch, the odds are stacked against you only the dam’s aptitude can save the day. Still, Golden Thatch got Yardmaster to win the Queens Plate, and Goldmark the Germiston November - perhaps class overcomes distance limitations? One thing to remember.

If there is such a thing as a sire’s stamina influence, then there also must be a dam’s stamina influence.

One of them might be dominant over the other (the majority of Mexicos and Harry Hotspurs are sprinters, regardless of who they were mated to). In a case of sire dominance, this should show up strongly in one of the groups.

But if a sire has figures that are close to the average in all categories (Home Guard, Jungle Cove) then the dam may well give the best clue as to how far a horse will stay.