Frankel

And Monsun is making a name for himself in Oz also, not least being his three Melbourne Cup winners Almandin, Protectionist and Fiorente, the last of which now making a name for himself as a very successful sire downunder.

Frankel at work, you can’t tell a good one by just looking at them?  

That's in line with the other top names in the market.  

Dubawi is listed at 250,000 GBP.

Lope de Vega is listed at 220,000 EUR, or about 193,000 GBP.

Wootton Bassett is at 150,000 EUR -- he's probably getting the best mares of his life this year

In North America, Curlin US$225k, Into Mischief US$250k, and Quality Road at US$200k are the top three (with Gun Runner private treaty and probably well above $200k).  Flightline's announced fee is set at $200k.

Heart's Cry is currently private treaty.  Lord Kanaloa is a relative bargain at about $90k GBP.

Not that I'm paying any attention but it seems as if Frankel as a sire is a continuation of Galileo - the good ones are all 2000m up - where you would expect a great miler to also have sprinters and milers. Who is the best Frankel sprinter? Who is the best Frankel miler?

Just checked. Inspiral has one open G1 win at a mile.

Three days so far, and three NEW Group One winners to Frankel, not his established stars but brand new high class horses coming through.

What an amazing effort. Freak sire. Love him, and especially when they also go so well in Australia!

Is this the most inexperienced Ascot Gold Cup winner in history?

He's a super racehorse, super sire, & hopefully will also be a super broodmare sire & sire of sires.

I think it's worth it to reflect on exactly what Northern Dancer achieved.

Northern Dancer's owners and breeders were Canadian, so they raced him as a 2yo in Ontario and in nearby New York.  It's not his fault that he didn't race at Royal Ascot or Longchamp.  As it was, he set a track record in the Kentucky Derby that stood until Secretariat in 1973, and has only been bettered one other time (Monarchos in 2001).  He is still, almost 60 years later, the only horse to have won both the USA's premier race for 3yos (Kentucky Derby) and Canada's premier race for 3yos (Queens Plate).  There is no telling what he could have done as an older horse as he retired after the Queens Plate with a tendon injury.

When Northern Dancer went to stud in Oshawa, Ontario, he had some very good mares, headlined by Canadian champions Wonder Where and Quill and Gr-1 winners Happy Mood and Windy Answer, but also "filler" mares like maiden winners Crock and Port of Call. Only after his first crop came out running (led by Canadian Horse of the Year Viceregal who won every major stakes race for 2yos in Canada), was he moved to the US where he saw better US and European-bred mares.  Even then, he went to the state of Maryland, not Kentucky...think of moving from the South Island to Victoria.  And in spite of the small books and limited early opportunity, he finished his career with 23% stakes winners from foals/30% stakes winners from runners, everywhere from England, Ireland, and France to the USA and Canada, on dirt and turf alike.

Most horses are lucky if they will sire one global-level breed-shaping stallion.  Northern Dancer sired seven: Nijinsky, Nureyev, Sadlers Wells, Lyphard, Danzig, Storm Bird, and Northern Taste (who, although his direct influence is smaller on the global stage than the others, reshaped the breed in Japan and set the stage for the rise to domination of Sunday Silence).  Likewise, most horses are lucky if they will sire one foundation broodmare.  Northern Dancer sired Cool Mood, Cold Reply (present in New Zealand through Van Nistelrooy), Northern Sea (dam of Southern Halo), Rose Red (present in Australia through Saxon Warrior), Victorian Heiress, Northern Meteor, and last but certainly not least the incomparable Fanfreluche.

Frankel got the best of the best broodmares from around the world from day one.  There is not a single mare in his book who would make anyone scratch their heads and think, huh? He has exactly the same number of foals in his northern hemisphere bred 1st crop (122) as Northern Dancer's first 5 crops combined.  Frankel saw more Gr-1 winners (not Gr-1 placed or Gr-1 producers, but the winners themselves) in his first book than Northern Dancer had foals.  And while he's certainly producing very well, he's getting about 14% stakes winners from foals from his crops 4 and up, which is on par to Northern Dancer's "disappointing" (as in, he only had 4 SWs out of 30 foals, including Nijinsky and Fanfreluche) second crop and well below Northern Dancer's lifetime achievements.

Frankel may someday catch up to Northern Dancer, but as SC said, he has a very long way to go and a lot of work to do to get there.