Birdstone's year so far

[Bohemia]

After the great year his 3-year-olds had in 2009, doesn't seem like many of Birdstone's progeny are winning in 2010. As of yesterday he has total progeny earnings of $804,348 (per TTimes), with his highest earner being Bet Your Boots ($63,345). Wonder if this is a one-year blip or whether he may still get top-class runners down the road. Also, any thought as to whether his stud fee will remain the same for 2011?

[Tappiano]

What is the difference in the number of foals he had? I'm too lazy to go look at the stats so was hoping you might know. I think he'll still do well and would speculate the quality in the second crop was a bit less.

[LB]

It's not unusual for Third Crop sires to struggle a bit--and in Birdstone's case the problems are multiplied because one of his big horses has retired and the other has lost his mojo. Anything racing now was conceived after Birdstone's newness as a sire wore off and before Summer Bird and Mine That Bird had a chance to make a name for him. Like most 3rd year sires, he probably had a smallish selection of not great mares.

The other thing to keep in mind is that Birdtsone's success as a sire so far is due almost entirely to just two horses. Summer Bird and Mine That Bird did so well that they catapulted Birdstone to the top of the lists. But aside from them, there hasn't been much else going on. So now that those two have stopped adding to his earnings, there's no one else around to take up the slack.