With the first British classic of the year taking place on the same day that the Irish National Hunt season ends, I almost forgot to delve through the final figures of the 2025/2026 jumps season.

The jumps stallion table isn’t dissimilar to the jockey and trainer titles, with the same names dominating year after year. Walk In The Park was crowned leading sire for the third year in a row, whether you judge by blacktype winners, graded winners, prize money or number of winners.

That’s quite an achievement by the Grange Stud stallion, but his dominance is nothing new – that secret was out long ago. However, there are plenty of other stories within the stallion tables that may help inform breeders and buyers.

In an effort to provide the most useful figures, I’ll focus on active stallions, and the two sires who shared the top spot in terms of strike rate in Great Britain and Ireland are very much in demand, though standing for lower fees than the overall champion sire.

Harzand

Kilbarry Lodge Stud sire Harzand and Masked Marvel of Haras de la Tuilerie both achieved an impressive strike rate of 46% with their runners. Of course, there’s an element of ‘cherry picking’ regarding how their progeny end up in this division, with Harzand beginning his career as a flat stallion (his first Kilbarry crop are two-year-olds), while many of Masked Marvel’s runners were bought privately after first showing potential in France.

However, the same applies to many of the stallions with the best strike rates. Four of the top 10 are no longer with us and one is a flat stallion (Sea The Moon), while two stand for some of the highest fees - Doctor Dino commands €24,000 and No Risk At All €22,000.

Cokoriko, who boasted the second highest strike rate at 44%, now stands for €15,000 and Masked Marvel is close behind at €12,500. Harzand, who stands for a private fee, is the only active Irish stallion in the top 10 and one of just three in the top 20.

The other two active Irish stallions in the top 20 by strike rate both achieved a strike rate of 35% over the past 12 months. Authorized, sire of dual Aintree Grand National winner I Am Maximus, stands for a private fee, while Affinisea commands €7,000 this season.

Affordale Fury, by Affinisea

That is Affinisea’s highest advertised fee (private the last four seasons), marking his progression through the ranks at Whytemount Stud. The Sea The Stars brother to Soldier Of Fortune did not have high-profile race wins to boost his profile when retiring to stud in 2017, but my analysis of the stallions who sired Grade 1 winners at this year’s Cheltenham Festival also suggested that pedigree was just as important as, if not more than, race record.

A promising start saw Affinisea’s numbers ride to 169 foals in 2023 – his highest to date – which will make their store sale debut this summer. Luckily for breeders and consignors of those three-year-olds, they’ll be offered following a season in which Affinisea’s progeny achieved a career-best number of winners, prize money earnings and number of blacktype performers – eight to be exact.

Affinisea also sired his first Grade 1 winners during the 2025/2026 season, as Affordale Fury landed the Savills Chase, while Sixmilebridge took the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase a month later. They each hail from Affinisea’s first crop twos and both began their careers in point-to-points.

Zanoosh

Harzand is on a similarly upward curve, and all before his first crops bred at Kilbarry Lodge Stud hit the track, though he did cover some National Hunt mares while at Gilltown Stud.

The dual Derby hero doubled his tally of National Hunt winners and blacktype performers during the 2025/2026 season and perhaps the most impressive statistic is that 10% of his runners earned blacktype.

Zanoosh became Harzand’s second Grade 1 winner, and first Grade 1-winning mare, when registering her fifth consecutive win in the Irish EBF Honeysuckle Mares’ Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse.

Harzand’s popularity has risen year on year, as the son of Sea The Stars covered 255 mares last year, while his three-year-olds commanded an average price of €48,505 and sold for up to €180,000. Given the season he’s had, he looks set for a repeat at this year’s store sales.