Var

Having seen poor Villandry run so badly today I am now convinced he is a bum sire. He sends out a few precocious 2 year olds and they never train on. Definitely would bypass his progeny at the sales.

I'm not sure he is a bum sire, but I do tend to agree with you that his juveniles are very precocious but we have still to see one of them train on to be a great 3 year old and consequently a decent 4 year old.

He will have to step it up I fear as the throne of great speed sires of yesteryear like Harry Hotspur, National Assembly, Golden Thatch ect. is not under threat from him anytime soon.

Trainers like to spin the careers of their horses out so he is maybe not the best sire for SA?

Yes not sure how long it will last? Maybe only lunch time ()

I just wonder if he doesn't represent what I have always called a '1970's style' sire. Those were the days when the rich pickings were all in races up to but not really much beyond 1600m. They used to be called 'Golden Miles'.

I have never quite understood the excitement generated by sprinters as that type of racing doesn't ( for me ) contribute all that much to the spectacle of racing; given how sprints tracks are laid out and the events are filmed.

Looking back on recent years it would appear that Fort Wood possibly regenerated a genuine committment to buying 'classic' sires capable of throwing runners with both speed and stamina. Happily we now have a lot more of the same to choose from : eg Jet Master, Silvano, Dynasty etc., and quite a number of, as yet, unproven newcomers. Even Western Winter remains just a little suspect with many of his progeny not really all that effective beyond 1600/1800m.

Now you just need to find them!

It is way too soon to rate Var - we know his youngsters is precocious but let's leave it to the breeders...I'd rather wait and see than to end up with lots of egg on my face
I would however much rather go with a Jet Master, Captain Al or Al Mufti at this stage...

This doesn't address Var's training on, but here are some figures I've come up with from the Breeders Handbook pages.

Sires by stakes winners to runners:
11.9% Western Winter
10.9% Fort Wood
9.8% Jet Master
8.0% Silvano
7.4% Jallad
7.3% National Assembly
7.2% Captain Al
7.0% Kahal

Var comes in at 6.2%.

Sires by black type to runners:
21.3% Western Winter
19.1% Fort Wood
18.0% Jet Master
15.7% Captain Al
14.2% National Assembly
14.1% Jallad and Silvano
12.8% Muhtafal
12.7% Al Mufti
12.4% Kahal

Var has 11.1%.

From both lists, I've left out sires who, like Var, have had less than 100 runners to date.

Var himself had his best season as a 5 year old