Stallion Battles Heating Up as Breeders' Cup Approaches

It's our last check-in with North America's general sires list before the Oct. 30-31 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland. While we haven't seen as little movement from one edition to the next as we have this week, so much remains to be decided.

Naturally, the question everyone has been asking most of this year still hasn't been answered. Not This Time , who will stand next year at Taylor Made Stallions for $300,000, holds a more than $4.4 million advantage in progeny earnings over Spendthrift Farm's seven-time defending top sire Into Mischief . If things break Into Mischief's way, this battle could go down to the end of the year. 

READ: Not This Time Becomes Market Leader at $300K for 2027

Meanwhile, Gun Runner  sits at roughly $5.8 million behind Into Mischief in third. 

But that is where things really get fun. 

There is a $3.3 million gap that separates the sires ranked Nos. 4-13. No. 4 Nyquist  has a $1.3 million edge over No. 5 Justify . What separates Constitution , Curlin , Practical Joke , Vekoma , Munnings , Tiz the Law , Liam's Map , and Omaha Beach  adds up to nearly $1.86 million across these eight rankings. 

Don't be surprised if the dust settles following the Breeders' Cup with the standings having gone all topsy-turvy.

In fact, all the way through the top 25 there is enough closeness that upheaval should be expected.

Elsewhere, Golden Pal  has a $970,000 advantage over Jackie's Warrior  for first-crop sire honors. Again, it's more than two stallions vying for the honor. Only around $91,400 separates Jackie's Warrior from third-ranked Life Is Good , and from Life Is Good through Olympiad , Flightline , Epicenter , Early Voting , Corniche , Jack Christopher , and Roadster  in 10th the spread in progeny earnings is around $714,000.

Top second-crop sire honors are not as close with Yaupon  ahead of Essential Quality  by $2.5 million.

If a nail-biter is what you are looking for, look no further than the third-crop sires. 

Vekoma , who was the leading second-crop sire of 2025, and Tiz the Law  are heading to a photo finish. Vekoma has a $300,000 lead as of Oct. 19. McKinzie  sits nearly $5 million back in third. 

When broken down by surface, Into Mischief holds a $3 million lead over Not This Time with runners on dirt tracks. Should he maintain his hold as the top dirt sire title, it will be the eighth consecutive year he will hold that distinction. 

On the turf, Not This Time is $2.3 million ahead of Justify. Not This Time was last year's leading turf sire, and Justify ranked among the top three turf sires in 2024-25. 

Moving to all-weather, the late Ontario sire Souper Speedy holds a $716,000 advantage over Liam's Map . Nyquist is a mere $171,000 behind in third and places three through 12 have a spread of $220,000 in progeny earnings between them.