The sires open race table for 2025 plus a look at the pedigree of Proper Heiress

Sydney continues his dominance 

It will come as no surprise to anybody that Droopys Sydney leads the open race sires table – from January 1 to July 31 - with more than three times the winners of his closest rival and more than the next three in the list combined. 

It is also worth bearing in mind that Broadstrand Bono and Ballymac Cashout are themselves two of Sydney’s sons. 

Sydney offers volume and versatility in his offspring from sprinters to marathon winners leaving him with an average winning distance of 483m, which compares favourably with the overall average of the +2,600 winners of 479.97m. 

It is also about quality of offspring with (including the August 2 finals) his progeny winning 12 of this year’s 28 Category One finals. 

With Sydney deceased, and Dorotas Wildcat now ten years old, the younger Bono and Cashout will surely consolidate their positions, though both will eventually be restricted by the number of Sydney daughters as future top broods. 

Cashout will be further restricted in his options given his close relationship with both Ballymac Bolger and Malachi. 

Sussex Cup winner Proper Heiress was bred by Willie O’Connor from Kilkenny out of his brood Powerful Mush and represents a fascinating insight into the complexities of breeding. 

Mush (originally named Mays Solinera) had a couple of A5 races at Romford for Martyn Wiley and was beaten in both. Quite why her UK career was cut short is unclear, however, in her second race back in Ireland she was marked ‘awkward’ at Clonmel. 

The decision to breed out of her was presumably made on the basis of her talented dam Global Liberty though things didn’t start out well – to put it mildly. 

The first litter were by Crash, the Aussie import who was something of a ‘marmite’ sire. Sometimes disappointing, but also able to throw dogs of the calibre of Ice On Fire. 

However, this litter were by any standards, ‘extraordinary’ but not in a good way.  

It included Proper Lily (suspended), Alan The Hawk (awkward), Sharpys Rugrat (disq), Sharpysratfink (disq), Proper Rebel, once marked ‘awkward’ and Sharpys Desmondo – doubly disqualified at Doncaster. 

Thankfully (!) most of that carnage had not occurred when Proper Mush’s second litter were born exactly two years after the first. 

They were by Droopys Sydney and the difference that he made to the second litter perhaps explains more than any table of winners, as to why he was so successful at stud. 

In addition to the four-time Cat One winner Proper Heiress, the litter includes Hunt Cup winner Hogans Hawk and Reedys Royal who won a novice stake at Waterford but whose GBGB career seems to have been ended by injury. 

We have traced the dam line back four generations to Droopys Diva, arguably one of the Dunphy’s lesser known dam lines, via Due A Break, who was a daughter brought into the yard from Donal Maloney and would make her a relative of Seamus Graham’s fabulous brood Nifty Niamh (dam of Premier Fantasy). 

This particular branch of the family has produced a string of well known names starting with Mush’s litter sister Are Nagini, who was probably the best marathon bitch in Dublin for a period of time, winning the Night of Stars Marathon and the 1,025 yard Shelbourne Marathon. 

The stamina also shows up in Golden Jacket winner Skilful Sandie. There is early pace visible via Broadway Murty, though the bit of the graphic that might have breeders shaking their heads in bewilderment is the litter by Mush’s dam by Crash. 

There could hardly have been two more resolute and consistent performers than brothers Lenson Blinder (RU Irish St.Leger) and Slippy Cian (Race Of Champions).