Curlin and "Breed The Best To The Best"

Some stallions, like Curlin, don't necessarily work with every sire line

Curlin (photo credit: Nicole Meiner)

The Curlin sire line just had its second consecutive Kentucky Derby winner, with Good Magic’s Mage taking the roses a year after Keen Ice’s Rich Strike. It goes without saying that Curlin is one of the top sires in the breed, but as I researched for the OBS April Sale, I began to notice an interesting pattern - there seemed to be an unusually large number of elite stallions who Curlin, himself among the best of the best, and his sons had never produced a stakes winner with, some from fairly decent sample sizes. This includes mares carrying any source of Tiznow (in 34 starters), Distorted Humor (in 32 starters), War Front (in 25 starters), Ghostzapper (in 21 starters), Empire Maker (in 20 starters), Candy Ride (in 15 starters), Arch (in 14 starters) and Speightstown (in 13 starters). I found this surprising, and decided it would be worthwhile to try to determine if there was a pattern.

Stallions Curlin has not produced a stakes winner with

Before starting, it’s important to note that, according to G1 Goldmine, there have been 1,970 starters with Curlin in the top half of their pedigree (effectively, sired by Curlin or his sons). Of those, 1.27% are G1 winners and 6.75% are stakes winners. According to Equineline, 10.48% of the 887 starters by Curlin himself are stakes winners.