Who are the Most Undervalued Thoroughbred Sires in 2010? -- by Scot T. Gillies

When The Blood-Horse MarketWatch purchased the publication Owner-Breeder International a few years back, we were excited to expand our editorial reach. Alan Porter's "Undervalued Sires" updates were one of OBI's most popular features, and we've carried forward the concept in our August issue each year. The timing is not random: with the yearling sales season upon us, it is useful information for potential buyers (in fact, the original OBI series was titled "Undervalued September Sales Sires.")

Alan, Tom Hall, and I (Scot Gillies) are gearing up for the 2010 edition of "Undervalued Sires," and I thought I'd ask you to join in the planning phase this year. As always, we'll refer to our internal research to identify stallions whose progeny performance records have outperformed their stud fees or sales averages. For the first time, though, I'd like to get your input before we make our final selections.

Is there a stallion you like who doesn't get the respect he deserves?  Is it a $10,000 stud whose progeny are well-represented in stakes races, or a stallion whose progeny haven't fared well at the sales despite being consistently strong runners?  Maybe it's a stallion who's overlooked because he's standing in a state where he doesn't attract the right mares, or a good sire whose book of mares is just too small.

Take a look at last year's Undervalued Sires feature -- it's a free PDF download -- and then tell us who you think should be on the list in 2010. Make your argument compelling and you might just sway the editorial team to take a closer look for the August feature!

This year I've increased the feature's length by 60% so we'll have plenty of room to analyze which stallions are breeders' and yearling buyers' best bets. Watch for the Undervalued Sires story in the August issue of MarketWatch. (Not a subscriber?  Learn why you should be!)

We're looking forward to your comments (below).