Top of the Crops 2023

Weatherbys has published the 59th edition of the Bloodstock Sales Review — a must-have resource for those purchasing horses in all sections of the market, as well as breeders putting together their mating plans, whether Flat or National Hunt.

The book provides a complete analysis of European bloodstock sales in 2023 for all foals, yearlings and older horses in Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy. It also includes foals and yearlings either foaled in Europe or by European-based sires at the major auctions in North America and Japan. Furthermore, the Bloodstock Sales Review features comprehensive overviews of the trading year for Tattersalls, Goffs, Tattersalls Ireland and Arqana, as well as tables of the leading sires of 2023 by yearling average, lists of the year’s most expensive yearlings and foals, and a roll of top historical auction prices.

To mark the publication of the book, we compiled a top ten of the most profitable British and Irish-based yearling sires of last year. We have worked out each sires’ profitability index by dividing their 2023 yearling average by their covering fee of 2021, when the offspring in question were conceived.

In first place...

Havana Grey

2023 yearling ave: 90,951gns/€107,914

2021 covering fee: ￡6,000

Profitability index: 10.75

Havana Grey has taken by the industry by storm, with his first two crops bred off small fees at Whitsbury Manor Stud having yielded 15 black-type winners to date, including Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes hero Vandeek, July Stakes victor Jasour and Haydock Sprint Cup second Shouldvebeenaring.?

Buyers fell over themselves trying to secure one of his third-crop yearlings, conceived at just ￡6,000, resulting in huge profits for breeders. His 65 lots sold for an average of 90,951gns (€107,914), ten times the cost of their conception. No fewer than 20 made six-figure sums, headed by the half-brother to high-class sprinter Dragon Symbol sold to Godolphin for 600,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.