Which sires' offspring have the best strike-rates on heavy ground?

GLENEAGLES

Anyone who remembers Gleneagles’ own racing career might be surprised to find him among the best sires of winners on heavy ground but there's no arguing with his 20 winners from 89 runners under those conditions since 2018.

Gleneagles did all his winning at two on good to firm ground and then won the 2000 Guineas, Irish 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes on good to firm, good and firm ground respectively. He even missed several other races because the ground was considered too soft for him.

Whatever his own ground requirements, with a strike-rate of 22.5% on heavy ground (compared with 14.7% on turf in general), his offspring clearly act well in the mud. There was proof of that only last weekend when his smart daughter Insinuendo won the Park Express Stakes at the Curragh on heavy ground.

SIXTIES ICON

Galileo has had more winners on heavy ground than any other sire since 2018, and at a very good strike-rate too, but that’s more to do with him being an outstanding sire full stop rather than a marked preference for the mud on the part of his offspring. But, like Gleneagles, that’s not the case with another of his sons, Sixties Icon.

He’s had 23 winners from 113 runners on heavy ground at a strike-rate of 20.4% which is far better than his overall strike-rate of 12.3%. Best known for winning the 2006 St Leger, Sixties Icon never raced on soft or heavy ground, though he did win the Geoffrey Freer Stakes on good to soft ground as a five-year-old.

His two-year-old Legend of Xanadu ended last season with a career-best effort on heavy ground when winning the listed Doncaster Stakes, showing useful form.

ARCANO

Arcano, winner of the July Stakes and Prix Morny from just five career starts, is another who gave no clues in his own racing career that his offspring would go well in testing conditions.

In fact, all five of his races were on good to firm ground. But he’s another whose strike-rate improves from an unremarkable 9.6% on turf in general to a vastly better 17% on heavy ground, with 18 winners from 106 runners.

Among his most successful runners in the mud were the useful Irish mares Warnaq, who ended her career winning a listed race on heavy ground at Naas, and Drombeg Dream who gained all five of her wins on soft or heavy ground.

GARSWOOD

Garswood is a sire who does seem to be transmitting his own ground preferences to his offspring. He got off the mark as a two-year-old on heavy going when winning the listed Harry Rosebery Stakes at Ayr and he gained the biggest win of his career on his final start as a four-year-old when winning the Prix Maurice de Gheest on soft ground.

Overall, Garswood’s 8.9% strike-rate on turf is nothing to write home about but that improves to 17% on heavy where he’s had 10 winners from 59 runners under those conditions. The Roger Fell-trained Harswell Duke added to his two wins on heavy at Nottingham and Leicester last autumn when winning the Spring Mile on similar going at Doncaster on Saturday, while Queen’s Pardon shed her maiden tag when winning a sprint handicap on heavy at the Curragh last weekend.

EQUIANO

Equiano was a high-class sprinter whose two wins in the King’s Stand Stakes both came on ground firmer than good in keeping with his very speedy profile, though he did have form under softer conditions earlier in his career.

As a sire, his strike-rate is particularly good on heavy ground, with 21 winners from 127 runners equating to 16.5% which is much better than his general turf strike-rate of 9.2%. He has sired some very good sprinters of his own, notably The Tin Man whose Group 1 wins included a Sprint Cup on soft ground though was fairly versatile ground-wise.

His smart Irish sprinter Gustavus Weston has done all his winning on ground softer than good, including a Phoenix Sprint Stakes on heavy, while Michael Dods’ smart sprinter Dakota Gold has done plenty of his winning in the mud, including when ending last term successfully on heavy ground at Doncaster.

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