The 13 Most Influential Thoroughbred Sires in Racing History

Modern pedigrees narrow to a handful of stallions, and several of them never won anything worth remembering. Influence and greatness turn out to be different lists.

1. 1
   Northern Dancer

   Left a line of stallion sons — Sadler's Wells, Nijinsky, Danzig, Nureyev — that reshaped breeding worldwide.
2. 2
   Mr. Prospector

   Widely called the most influential North American sire of the last fifty years.
3. 3
   Bold Ruler

   Eight-time leading sire in North America, and the father of Secretariat.
4. 4
   Nearco

   The unbeaten Italian champion whose male line runs through most modern pedigrees.
5. 5
   Native Dancer

   His line reaches forward through Mr. Prospector and Raise a Native to much of today's dirt racing.
6. 6
   Sadler's Wells

   Champion sire in Britain and Ireland fourteen times, most of them consecutively.
7. 7
   Storm Cat

   Another Secretariat maternal grandson, whose stud fee reached $500,000 at his peak.
8. 8
   Galileo

   Sired more than 90 Group 1 winners including Frankel, and led the British sire list twelve times.
9. 9
   Secretariat

   Sired 57 stakes winners but no top-class stallion son; his influence arrived through his daughters.
10. 10
    Seattle Slew

    The undefeated Triple Crown winner sired A.P. Indy and became a cornerstone of the Bold Ruler line.
11. 11
    Raise a Native

    Ran four times, won four, and produced Mr. Prospector, Alydar and Majestic Prince.
12. 12
    Sunday Silence

    Led the Japanese sire list thirteen years in a row and rebuilt an entire national breeding industry.
13. 13
    Tapit

    The grey who topped the American sire list three times and stood at the highest fee in Kentucky.

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