The book provides a complete analysis of European bloodstock sales in 2024 for all foals, yearlings and older horses in Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy. It also includes foals and yearlings either foaled in Europe or by European-based sires at the major auctions in North America and Japan.

Furthermore, the Bloodstock Sales Review features comprehensive overviews of the trading year for Tattersalls, Goffs, Tattersalls Ireland and Arqana, as well as tables of the leading sires of 2024 by yearling average, lists of the year’s most expensive yearlings and foals, and a roll of top historical auction prices.

To mark the publication of the book, we compiled a top ten of the most profitable British and Irish-based yearling sires last year.

We have worked out each sires’ profitability index by dividing their 2024 yearling average by their covering fee of 2022, when the offspring in question were conceived.

In third place...

Awtaad

2024 yearling ave: 21,666gns/€26,161

2022 covering fee: €5,000

Profitability index: 5.23

Awtaad has been many people’s idea of a bona fide bargain sire since multiple top-level winners Anisette and Anmaat, plus other Group winners Al Qareem, Create Belief and Diamil emerged from his early mainly modestly bred crops. 

The Derrinstown Stud-based son of Cape Cross took off last year when his book size grew to 128 from 79 in 2023, and his 18 yearlings who changed hands sold for an average of 21,666gns (€26,161) – a steady enough figure but one that allowed some nice profits for supporters who used him at his fee of just €5,000 in 2022, as it made a profitability index of 5.23. The sire is still available at just €7,500 this year, so might be a sensible choice.