Sire stats deep dive: 3 things to know about City of Light
City of Light, a multiple Grade 1 winner who closed his racing career with a dominant victory in the 2019 Pegasus World Cup, is making an impact as a young sire with graded-stakes winners such as Fierceness and Formidable Man.
Standing at Lane's End Farm in Kentucky, City of Light's stud fee remained at $35,000 for the 2025 breeding season. The son of Quality Road has established himself as a versatile sire, with his progeny showing ability across different surfaces and distances with over $22 million in earnings from nearly 2,000 starts.
Doing our stats deep dive, there are probably way more than three things to learn about City of Light, but the first thing you should know is that when it comes to graded-stakes wins, males lead the way.
Graded stakes winners: Fierceness and males lead the way
City of Light's offspring have racked up 13 graded-stakes wins to date, concentrated on five stakes winners: multiple Grade 1 winner Fierceness, Grade 1 winner Formidable Man and Grade 3 winners Battle of Normandy, Chop Chop and Mentee.
The second thing you should know, interestingly, Fierceness is the only graded-stakes winner on dirt. The other four have racked up eight graded-stakes wins on turf.
And looking at sexes in graded stakes, males are significantly overperforming compared to their female counterparts. Males have accounted for four of the five graded-stakes winners with 11 graded wins. Females are responsible for only two graded-stakes wins, both by Chop Chop.
Surface analysis: Balanced but dirt preferred
City of Light's offspring have demonstrated their versatility across all racing surfaces, with their strongest performances coming on dirt.
| Surface | Sts | W | W% | Avg HRN | $/start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dirt | 1,170 | 203 | 17.4% | 86 | $12,499 |
| Turf | 563 | 68 | 12.1% | 87 | $11,864 |
| Synthetic | 190 | 22 | 11.6% | 84 | $5,978 |
| Overall | 1,923 | 293 | 15.2% | 86 | $11,669 |
Although dirt is clearly the preferred surface with a win rate of 17.4%, it's worth noting that turf and synthetic performances remain respectable. City of Light's progeny maintain consistent Horse Racing Nation speed figures across all surfaces, with turf runners actually averaging the highest figures at 87.
Distance analysis: Effective from sprints to routes
When examining performance by race distance, City of Light's offspring show versatility and effectiveness at both sprint and route distances.
| Distance | Sts | W | W% | Avg HRN | $/start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprint | 926 | 154 | 16.6% | 85 | $9,426 |
| Route | 997 | 139 | 13.9% | 87 | $13,752 |
Although his offspring win at a higher rate in sprints (16.6% vs. 13.9% in routes), they earn substantially more per start in route races ($13,752 vs. $9,426), but that's largely because stakes earnings in routes drive up the overall number.
Surface and distance combinations: Finding the sweet spots
Breaking down performance by both surface and distance reveals more specific strengths in City of Light's offspring.
| Surface/distance | Sts | W | W% | Avg HRN | $/start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dirt sprint | 690 | 124 | 18.0% | 87 | $9,142 |
| Dirt route | 480 | 79 | 16.5% | 85 | $17,325 |
| Turf sprint | 168 | 24 | 14.3% | 79 | $12,607 |
| Turf route | 395 | 44 | 11.1% | 90 | $11,548 |
| Synth sprint | 68 | 6 | 8.8% | 79 | $4,446 |
| Synth route | 122 | 16 | 13.1% | 87 | $6,831 |
City of Light's progeny excel on dirt sprints with an 18% win rate. Notably, turf route runners produce the highest average Horse Racing Nation speed figures at 90.
Detailed distance analysis: Effective across all ranges
A more granular examination of distance ranges reveals patterns of where City of Light's offspring perform best.
| Distance Range | Sts | W | W% | Avg HRN | $/start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Less than 6F | 270 | 48 | 17.8% | 76 | $8,623 |
| 6F to 6.5F | 490 | 79 | 16.1% | 88 | $9,517 |
| 6.51F to 8F | 648 | 104 | 16.1% | 87 | $9,255 |
| 8.01F to 9F | 485 | 55 | 11.3% | 88 | $13,447 |
| Greater than 9F | 30 | 7 | 23.3% | 107 | $97,630 |
At distances greater than nine furlongs, City of Light's offspring win at a remarkable 23.3% rate with an outstanding average HRN speed figure of 107. This data is based on only 30 starts, and a large portion of these were starts in graded stakes, but it is still interesting nonetheless.
Gender analysis: Males show stronger results
City of Light passes his talent to both male and female offspring, though there are notable differences in their performances.
| Gender | Sts | W | W% | Avg HRN | $/start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 1,113 | 189 | 17.0% | 93 | $14,387 |
| Female | 810 | 104 | 12.8% | 77 | $7,934 |
Male progeny outperform females across all metrics, with a higher win percentage (17% vs. 12.8%), significantly better HRN speed figures (93 vs. 77), and nearly double the earnings per start ($14,387 vs. $7,934). This suggests that City of Light may be a particularly strong sire for colts and geldings.
This is the third thing you should definitely know. At 17% vs. 12.8%, City of Light males are winning 33% more than females.
Wet track performance: Consistent across conditions
City of Light's offspring adapt to varying track conditions, maintaining solid performance metrics on both wet and dry surfaces.
| Surface/Condition | Sts | W | W% | Avg HRN | $/start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dirt sprintwWet | 124 | 15 | 12.1% | 89 | $8,988 |
| Dirt route wet | 102 | 16 | 15.7% | 83 | $10,410 |
| Turf sprint wet | 26 | 3 | 11.5% | 75 | $15,471 |
| Turf route set | 42 | 6 | 14.3% | 90 | $17,659 |
Development pattern
City of Light's offspring show typical progress through their first several starts.
| Experience | Sts | W | W% | Avg HRN | $/start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First start | 225 | 28 | 12.4% | 75 | $7,903 |
| Second start | 203 | 34 | 16.8% | 81 | $13,335 |
| Third start | 184 | 18 | 9.8% | 83 | $15,414 |
Age progression: Maintaining quality with maturity
City of Light's progeny also show continued development and sustained performance as they mature.
| Age | Sts | W | W% | Avg HRN | $/start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2YO | 318 | 45 | 14.2% | 75 | $15,425 |
| 3YO | 925 | 134 | 14.5% | 86 | $11,662 |
| 4YO | 523 | 89 | 17.0% | 92 | $11,126 |
| 5YO+ | 157 | 25 | 15.9% | 92 | $5,911 |
City of Light's progeny show a steady progression in both win percentage and HRN speed figures as they age, with 4-year-olds achieving the highest win rate at 17%.
Future outlook: Other stakes potential
Beyond City of Light's five graded -takes winners, several others are knocking on the door, including Paris Lily who was second in the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) in May and recently finished third in the Monmouth Oaks (G3) this month. Additionally, Benedetta was second in the Winning Colors (G3) in May, Extensive was third in the Hollywood Gold Cup (G2) in May and Allihies was fourth in the Summertime Oaks (G3) in June. Event Detail was fourth in the Arlington (G3) in May, and Cassiar and Ahavah were Grade 2-placed in March.