CHAMPION SIRE IN INDIA 2016-17 (Decided by Stakes Won)

Usha Stud's Multidimensional ended 2012-13 as the Champion Freshman Sire and followed by winning General Sires Championship the next year. He was only third behind Always A Rainbow and Burden of Proof in 2014-15 and runner-up to Burden of Proof last year. This year, he returns to the top once again.

He was some way off the pace at half-way stage. His runners were at their best in the second half of the year and he admirably led Usha's ultimately unsuccessful challenge for the premier honours. Usha Stud may have failed in its gallant bid but Multidimensional passed the front runners easily for his second title in four years. His progeny won five of the seven Gr.1s and three of the five summer/monsoon  Derbies in the latter half of the year. Mathaiyus, brought along patiently by Pesi Shroff, finished the year with a flourish winning the President of India Gold Cup at Hyderabad and the Kingfisher Ultra Indian St. Leger, Gr.1 at Pune and finished the year as the joint highest rated horse -- with Serejant At Arms -- of his vintage.  Manifold had a Gr.1 summer double at Bangalore with the Bangalore Fillies' Championship Stakes, Gr.1 and Kingfisher Ultra Derby Bangalore, Gr.1 while Prevalent Force annexed the Deccan Derby, Gr.1.

Four crops of Multidimensional have completed their Classic years and the fifth is halfway through it. So far, he has sired 20 individual Classic winners and his 2013 crop had six individual Classic winners, only one less than the record seven he had in his first. The son of Danehill has done everything that could be reasonably expected of him and yet does not, for whatever reasons, have a fan following worthy of his achievements. At the same point of time in his career Razeen, Multidimensional's great predecessor, had 21 individual Classic winners, just one more than the present incumbent. This is not to compare the two stallions but to merely add a perspective.

Phoenix Tower is a year younger than Multidimensional. Both retired to stud in 2009. Before that, both were stablemates in Sir Henry Cecil's Warren Place yard at Newmarket. In their racing days, they ran against each other twice and both times Phoenix Tower finished comfortably ahead. At stud, though, it is a different story. The Manjri  Stud stallion is yet to finish above his Usha Stud rival. Phoenix Tower has gradually worked himself up the ladder and his runner-up spot befits a stallion who is an excellent winner producer. It is just that his progeny come up short as the distance starts increasing and competition gets sterner. The arrival of Strong Suit at Manjri hasn't affected the size of his books and he should maintain his top five status next year. He was at the top of the Table at the half-way stage this year.

Last year, Kunigal won the Championship and Burden of Proof wore the Champion Sire sash. This year, both have tumbled from the pedestal with Kunigal finishing fourth and the stallion having to settle for third place. It once again shows how important, at least in the Indian context, a stallion is to fortunes of the stud where he is standing. Burden of Proof, now sadly no more, was never out of the top five in the last five years and was always a consistent and dependable sire. Including the current two year-olds, Burden of Proof has three crops to follow and so has every chance of remaining in the leading sires next year.

Like Burden of Proof, Hazara Stud's Rebuttal is no more. Both were Champion Freshman Sires but while Burden of Proof added a General Sires Championship to his resume, Rebuttal did not. Rebuttal was a fair sprinter who punched above his weight as a stallion and played his part in enabling Hazara Stud to dethrone the reigning champions in 2013. He also sired some good winners over a distance of ground which was a bit surprising given his pedigree. Eventually, though, he will be remembered more as a good winner producer. Numbers were on his side in the year under review and he finds himself in top five despite a low Average Earning Index. He does not have any new crops to come and so might find it difficult to retain his position next year.

While Danehill was making  the 'Down Under' agog, Sunday Silence was scripting his own success story in Japan. Danehill did return to Europe -- he, too, had a short stint in Japan -- and has today become a world-wide influence. Sunday Silence, unfortunately, was confined to Japan though he had world-wide admirers. In India, his most ardent fans were the Brars of the Dashmesh Stud and they were the first to import a son of his, the short-lived Sunday Doubt. His vacant stall was filled by Win Legend, another son of Sunday Silence. Beautifully bred, Win Legend was speedier than most of Sunday Silence progeny though, on pedigree, he ought to have got further. His greatest strength is that melds well with the predominantly staying broodmare band at Dashmesh. His four Classic winners are all fillies and the two Derbies that Hall of Famer won saw him catapult into the top five for the first time. He is a good stallion who just needs to up his game a bit and get colts who are as classy his fillies. He could also do with more numbers for as can be seen, he is competing with a distinct disadvatange. Rebuttal has no two year-olds while he has more juveniles in training than Burden of Proof. However, Phoenix Tower and Multidimensional have larger crops in 2015.

Overall, the stallion scene in the country is neither too rosy nor too bleak. It is an ideal setting for a new sire to burst through and make his mark.

PAST THE POST

* "Nicks" are an important aspect of breeding strategies but they do not constitute a magic formula to produce good winners. A "nick" may appear perfectly attractive on paper but very often fails in specific cases. It is well established by now that Multidimensional does well with mares by Razeen or having a strain of Razeen in them. Ace, like Multidimensional, is a son of Danehill who went to stud a year before the Usha Stud stallion and covered 21 Razeen mares, most of them well performed and well-bred. From those 21 mares he produced not a single Classic winner.

* In breeding, prepotence is more important than paper theories. Multidimensional is prepotent; Ace simply was not.