While the direct offspring of various stallions achieve great success, other stallions prove their value as dam sires. Since 2015, Hippomundo has analysed the most influential dam sires (with at least 100 international offspring per year), based on both the number of international performers and the average prize money won by their grandchildren.
In this article, we look at which dam sires had the most offspring in sport each year and which achieved the highest average prize money.
The data in focus
| Year | Most offspring | Number | Highest average prize money | Average prize money |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Darco | 349 | Nabab de Rêve | € 14.335 |
| 2016 | Darco | 384 | Baloubet du Rouet | € 8.325 |
| 2017 | Darco | 424 | Kannan | € 9.561 |
| 2018 | Quidam de Revel | 426 | Libero H | € 19.393 |
| 2019 | Quidam de Revel | 471 | Baloubet du Rouet | € 13.643 |
| 2020 | Quidam de Revel | 387 | For Pleasure | € 5.897 |
| 2021 | Quidam de Revel | 470 | For Pleasure | € 13.981 |
| 2022 | Indoctro | 547 | For Pleasure | € 14.350 |
| 2023 | Diamant de Semilly | 651 | Cruising | € 12.858 |
| 2024 | Diamant de Semilly | 685 | For Pleasure | € 17.972 |
View here the ranking of maternal sires since 2015, based on number of offspring in International sport.
Insights
Darco dominated the first years (2015-2017) with the most offspring in the sport, a sign that his daughters were in high demand as dams. For example, mares such as Orchidee van de Tombeele (breeder: Geert Derycke), Ulive van ‘t Zorgvliet (breeder: Andre Braeckevelt) and Bijou van de Vijfheide (breeder: Noella Wouters) produced successful showjumpers - including the Olympic horse Cortes 'C’ by Beezie Madden (USA) - Even 10 years later, Darco remains a [top 10](https://www. hippomundo.com/ranking/dam-sire?ranking_for=dam-sire&discipline_id=9&national=0&date_range=last_365_days&age_range=&number_of_horses=min_100&sex=&horse_name=&page=1&per_page=30&sort_by=number_of_horses&order=desc) place as a dam sire with horses such as [Kas - Sini DC](https://www. hippomundo.com/pedigree/performance/367147-kas-sini-dc) and Belano vd Wijnhoeve Z who continue to shine internationally.
Quidam de Revel took over as of 2018 and remained the dam sire with the most internationally performing offspring five years in a row. This underscores his lasting influence through the mare line. In 2018, the Zangersheide stallion Utamaro d'Ecaussines Z was the most successful horse with Quidam de Revel as the damsire. Since 2015, Quidam de Revel tops the list as damsire with the highest number of international jumpers: a total of 1,561, with Luna van het Dennehof as the most successful representative.
Luna van het Dennehof ©marcvandijck.com
Diamant de Semilly took the lead recently, with impressive numbers of offspring in 2023 and 2024.
For Pleasure stood out as damsire with the highest average prize money in several years (2020, 2021, 2022, 2024), it is especially his granddaughter Killer Queen VDM, who pushed this average firmly into the heights with a total of €4,057,705 in prize money. For Pleasure still confirms in today's top sport as a damsire with granddaughter and sons at the top level, such as Elektric Blue P and Messi van 't Ruytershof.
Libero H delivered the highest average prize money in 2018: that was thanks to the Quidam de Revel son Sterrehof's Calimero, who then jumped €1,233,566 in prize money, which boosted the average solidly!
The data clearly show how certain stallions prove their value in breeding not only through their direct offspring, but also through their daughters. The impact of maternal sires such as Darco, Quidam de Revel, Diamant de Semilly and For Pleasure remains great in modern sport horse breeding.
