If you are looking to gauge the great stud dogs of their respective eras, the Irish Derby is as good a guide as you will find.
With 14 of the last 48 runners who could deny Droopys Sydney’s right to his first success in the event?
Thus far he has produced nine finalists including four in each of the last two deciders and featuring both runners-up, Ballymac Finn and Bockos Crystal.
(He already has two English Derby winners to his name in Gaytime Nemo and Deerjet Sydney.)
Surprisingly though, something very similar has happened previously.
Prairie Flash, the dominant sire of the 1960s, had four unsuccessful offspring in the ’67 final, including runner-up Dry Flash. He had three finish down the field the following year. There were another two unsuccessful in the 1969 final including another runner-up, Monalee Gambler.
Finally, with his last two attempts, he landed the 1970 final with Monalee Pride with Menelaus back in third.
The 1970s ‘belonged to’ Monalee Champion and he also fathered nine Irish Derby finalists, winning the event three times with Sole Aim, Tain Mor and Lindas Champion.
No list of great stud dogs could exclude Top Honcho who was the most prolific of all with no fewer than 14 Derby finalists though he only won it once with He Said So but had runners-up with Tyrur Laurel, Tyrur Sugar Ray and Oran Classic. (Sugar Ray reached the final in three separate years).
Looking to the greats, only two other sires have Derby hat-tricks. The world’s most expensive stud dog of his era, Brett Lee, repaid his fees with three winners (Tyrur McGuigan, Razldazl Billy and Laughil Blake) from seven finalists.
The only other treble winner was one of the greats of Irish tracking, Spanish Battleship who won the ’53, ’54 and ’55 finals, and thus keeps his otherwise largely obscure sire Spanish Chestnut among the greats.
Sires with runners in the last 48: 14 Droopys Sydney, 6 Good News, Pestana, 3 Dorotas Wildcat, Ballymac Bolger, 2 Ballymac Cashout, Broadstrand Bono, Burgess Bucks, Dromana Bucko, 1 Airmount Nando, Ballyhimikin Jet, Brett Lee, Grangeview Ten, Lenson Bocko, Malachi, Newinn Taylor, Vulturi.
There are three pairs of littermates going into the third round: Bockos Diamond/March On Freddie, A Lucky Julie/Denos Bay and Grangeclare Lady/House Martin.
A look through the history of the event shows a remarkable number of successful combos.
The most recent, and unique result is of course the double achieved by the 2022/2023 litter brothers Born Warrior and The Other Kobe.
We have previously seen 1-2 finishes for littermates Tyrur McGuigan/Tyrur Big Mike (’20), Batties Rocket/Batties Spirit (’95) and Ardfert Mick/Ask Clare (’91).
Overall, the percentage of Derby winners who go on to become great producers has been very small. More often than not, all six finalists have failed to go on to successful breeding careers.
But if we had to choose the most prolific set of finalists, we’d probably point to the 1997 final won by Toms The Best. He was followed home by Vintage Prince, Right To Apply, Jokers Run, Spiral Nikita and Some Picture.
