By admin 
Ashford Stud has long excelled at attracting mares to the farm’s first-year stallions, and that didn’t change in 2026, with residents of Coolmore’s stallion roster being three of the top six busiest incoming sires of the year, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred.
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Leading the way among that group was Sierra Leone, whose 293 mares not only led all rookie stallions, but all of North America in 2026. It was the most mares bred in a season since fellow Ashford Stud resident Golden Pal hit the same number during the 2023 breeding season.
In addition to being the most popular among the rookie sires of 2026, Sierra Leone stood for the highest stud fee in his class, at $75,000.
The 5-year-old son of Gun Runner retired to Ashford Stud as arguably the most anticipated newcomer of the season, coming off a career where he sold to the Coolmore partnership and Peter Brant as a yearling for $2.3 million, then made good on the price tag by earning more than $8.1 million. Over three seasons of racing, Sierra Leone won a trio of Grade 1 races, including the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic, and he finished second in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Belmont Stakes.
Joining Sierra Leone at the top of the list is his fellow Ashford Stud resident Citizen Bull, who covered 261 mares in his debut season.
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The son of Into Mischief stood for $45,000 in 2026 after a career that saw him earn the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male of 2024 on the strength of Grade 1 wins in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and American Pharoah Stakes. At three, he won the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes and the listed Shared Belief Stakes before ending his career finishing second by a head to Nysos in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
Sierra Leone and Citizen Bull are sons of two of the most proven commercial sires in today’s stud book, in Gun Runner and Into Mischief, respectively, and the horses that followed them on the list continued on that pattern.
Gainesway resident Locked, a Grade 1-winning son of Gun Runner, was visited by 226 mares in 2026, while Barnes, a Grade 2 winner by Into Mischief, covered 211 mares.
Rounding out the top six was Spendthrift Farm’s Goal Oriented at 201 and Ashford Stud resident Fierceness at 196.
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Leading North American First-Year Sires By Mares Bred In 2026
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This story was originally published October 13, 2026 at 4:11 PM.