IN the show jumping sire results, the top end reads like a Who’s Who of European-based proven performance sires. From an Irish perspective, there are two Irish links in the top 50 this year (just Lux Z appeared in 2016, in 43rd place) through the exiled pair of Ard VDL Douglas and Querlybet Hero.
The Darco son moved from 63rd place in 2016 to 48th in the most recent rankings, while Querleybet Hero, who stood for just one season in Ireland, stands in 50th place.
Suma’s Zorro (112th in the individual rankings) and Dougie Douglas (312th) are Ard VDL Douglas’s leading pair from his Irish-born crops. The claim to Querleybet Hero is made more tenuous by the fact that all of his listed progeny were foaled on the Continent.
Lux Z (89th) and Cruising (95th) round off the Irish-based stallions numbers to four in the top 100 last year, two less than 2016.
The only change in the 2017 WBFSH leading sire leaderboard took place in this section with Chacco Blue deposing Diamant de Semilly.
The Chambertin-sired Chacco Blue is proving to be a better sire than performer and amongst his 150 progeny listed are several that made him the most represented sire at last year’s European show jumping championships in Gothenburg.
These of course include Chaqui Z, Shane Sweetnam’s team gold medal winner, who is ranked third of Chacco Blue’s 2017 progeny behind the Oldenburg mare VDL Groep Miss Untouchable, (out of an Aldatus Z dam) and Chadino.
Diamant De Semilly leads the Selle Français sire pack and once again it is Don VHP Z, the individual silver medal winner at Gothenburg for the Netherlands that is the leading scorer from his sire’s 145 points earners. Like Casall (fifth) Diamant de Semilly is already proving himself as a sire of commercial sires, including Comme Il Faut and Elvis Der Putte.
The remainder of this year’s top-10 is relatively unchanged from last year with Gerco Schroeder’s ex-campaigner Eurocommerce Berlin (10th) just edging out the old stalwart Quidam de Revel.
Another leading French-bred, the dual Olympic medal winner Baloubet du Rouet (eighth) died last summer but his son Balou du Rouet has this year’s unique distinction of being the only stallion to appear in both the show jumping and eventing rankings (ninth) last year.
Casall ASK, the sire of the WBFSH leading show jumping horse Chesall Zimequest, in the previous year rankings has already proved hugely popular with breeders and after an unique spell competing at the top amongst his own progeny, was another to retire last year.
He holds on to fifth place, just above Kashmir Van’t Schuttershof, whose exceptional strike rate for performers includes Sweden’s 2017 European individual gold champion H&M All In.
DRESSAGE SIRES
While the show jumping sires rankings are the most static of last year’s results, there was relatively little change within the dressage sire results too.
Once again it was De Niro, another stallion lost last year, that continued to rule and it was the Rio Olympics and European championships contender Super Nova II (individual ninth) that was his main flagbearer.
The influence of De Niro’s sire Donnerhall was stamped yet again on the latest rankings with two more of his sons – Don Frederico (sixth) and Don Schufro (10th) – featured.
One sire and son combination in the dressage division are Sandro Hit (second) and the Australian export Stedinger (eighth).
Judy Reynolds’ globe-trotting campaigner Vancouver K leads the way for his sire Jazz.
Overall it was a strong showing by the Oldenburg studbook, claiming 50% of the top-10 dressage stallions.
Sire rankings can pose as many questions as answers as Irish breeders navigate websites, articles and brochures hoping to find the magic match.
Whether investing in a top 1.60m show jumping stallion for the correct mare or finding the ideal eventing sire, the WBFSH rankings are as always a useful yardstick in this quest.
See www.wbfsh.org for the 2017 sire rankings.
