Meet The 2023-24 All-Value Sire Team: Volatile

Now that the full roster for the 2023-24 All-Value Sire Team has been selected, let's take a closer look at each member, continuing on with First Team Freshman Sire Volatile at Three Chimneys Farm.

As the First Team Freshman Sire, Volatile represents bloodstock editor Joe Nevills' top choice among stallions standing for $20,000 or less whose first foals are 2-year-olds of 2024, based on a combination of on-track performance, progeny performance, pedigree, physical, and commercial momentum.

Booking to a freshman sire is always a gamble, often having to visit the breeding shed before the stallion's first runner enters the starting gate. If those first foals don't come out running, the breeder could be stuck holding the bag commercially. However, if that freshman crop hits, a breeder is well-positioned to follow up with commercially attractive foals bred at a discount fee.

After finishing as the Second Team Sprint Sire on last season's All-Value Sire Team, Volatile switched divisions and moved up a spot after a filly from his debut crop sold for $1.15 million at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

"The commercial market has set a high ceiling for a stallion standing for under $20,000, and while another seven-figure horse is probably to much to expect during the upcoming 2-year-old season, I expect Volatile's first juveniles to forge the path well," Nevills wrote in his analysis. "If they can even get close to keeping up with that pace once they hit the racetrack, Volatile's days as a horse eligible for the All-Value Sire Team might be numbered."

To read Nevills' full analysis of Volatile, click here.