Positive reception to first crop of foals plus an attractive second-season book of mares point to rosy future for young Darley young stallion with dream pedigree
The market can be quick to make assumptions on a young stallion, especially when it comes to those perceived as staying types.
As such, it was very encouraging to witness the positive reception towards the first crop of foals by Godolphin’s Derby hero Masar when they came under the hammer last winter. Led by a colt bred by James Read’s Selwood Bloodstock out of Muscovado who sold for 110,000gns to Ger Morrin’s Pier House Stud, Masar’s clutch of 18 foals to sell returned an average of almost 35,000gns.
Other highlights included a colt out of Great Hope, who was sold by breeder Petches Farm for 80,000gns to Fairway Partners, and a Shadwell-bred colt out of Tahneed who made €68,000 to Tally-Ho Stud. As that group shows, it was a crop that caught the attention of some of Europe’s most successful pinhookers.
It is very easy to gauge a young stallion’s prospective merits on the reaction his early stock prompt at auction. But in Masar’s case, that would also be doing a disservice to the support of Godolphin, who have demonstrated their belief in the stallion by sending him an array of high-performing mares since he retired to stud in 2020.
Of course, while it takes an unique animal to win the Derby, Masar also brings a number of other appealing attributes to the table.
Racing royalty who blends stamina and speed
Trained by Charlie Appleby, he was precocious enough to make a winning debut in May of his two-year-old season when successful in a 6f maiden down the Goodwood hill; in second that day was Invincible Army, subsequently a high-class sprinter.
Two starts later, he defeated Romanised, winner of the following year’s Irish 2,000 Guineas, when successful in the G3 Solario Stakes at Sandown and after running third in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, wasn’t beaten far when mid-division in a rough running of the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar.
His authoritative victory over Dee Ex Bee, Saxon Warrior and Roaring Lion in the Derby, in which he emulated his sire New Approach, rightly ranks as the highlight of his three-year-old campaign. However, he was also particularly impressive when hammering Roaring Lion by nine lengths in the G3 Craven Stakes at Newmarket.
So while Masar stayed 1m4f well enough to strike in Epsom’s blue riband, he certainly wasn’t short of speed. In addition, his background is one of racing royalty as a direct descendant of the great blue hen Urban Sea, the 1993 Arc heroine who foaled Galileo and Sea The Stars. As those two names illustrate, it’s one of the great ‘stallion pedigrees’ of the recent era. However, another layer of interest is added by the fact that as a son of New Approach, he is also inbred to Urban Sea on a 3x4 pattern.
In addition, he is inbred 3x4 to Ahonoora, another important yet perhaps underrated influence.
Affordably priced at £15,000, Masar covered a debut book of 132 mares when he retired to stand alongside his sire at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket for the 2020 season.
Among them were those belonging to some of Europe’s leading breeders, including Ben Sangster, Chasemore Farm, Kildaragh Stud and Gestut Schlenderhan. But chief among them were Godolphin and Rabbah Bloodstock, whose initial support has played out in a collection of 19 newly-turned yearlings. Godolphin also has another 13 mares in foal to the horse and plans to support Masar again strongly this season (he has been priced at £14,000 for 2022).
The yearlings in question include fillies out of G1 Prix Royal-Oak heroine Be Fabulous (dam of Listed winners Sublimis and Lillian Russell), Teofilo’s G3-winning Dubawi half-sister Bean Feasa, G2 winner First City (dam of current G1 performer Midtown), G3 Musidora Stakes winner Short Skirt (dam of G3 winner Volcanic Sky) and Listed winners Blossomtime and Lady Liberty.
There are also colts on the ground out of G1 winners Lady Marian, winner of the Prix de l’Opera, and Punctilious, successful in the Yorkshire Oaks. Both mares have successfully clicked with New Approach before, Lady Marian as the dam of two-time G2 winner Loxley and Punctilious as the dam of G3-winning 2yo and 2,000 Guineas fourth Military March.
It’s a strong statement of support and although it’s still very early days, is a move already showing signs of being justified, as explained by Liam O’Rourke, Darley’s director of studs, stallions and breeding.
“I saw several Masar yearlings recently and they are doing really well,” he says. “The colt out of Lady Marian in particular has done very well and is extremely nice. He’s a correct colt with good bone and a very good temperament. We are very pleased with the way he is developing.
“We also have a very nice filly out of Kazziana [a winning Shamardal daughter of dual Classic winner Kazzia]. She is a good-sized filly – like the Lady Marian colt, she is sizeable but with the strength to carry her frame.
‘We’ve sent a pretty nice group of mares to him and we’ve been rewarded’
“In Ireland, there is a very nice filly out of Blossomtime, who is another Shamardal mare. She is a good strong type, while the filly out of Bean Feasa is also very nice. There is also another good filly out of Be Fabulous. She is a tall, scopey filly and pretty correct – that is a common theme among the Masar yearlings we have, they’re all very correct.”
It is interesting to note the spread of mares sent by Godolphin and Rabbah Bloodstock to Masar in his first season, with the group ranging from the 93-rated five- to seven-furlong winner Dubai One to Prix Royal-Oak heroine Be Fabulous. Five are daughters of Shamardal while another two are by his relation Street Cry.
There is also a Japanese-bred filly out of the winning Celebrity, a Tanino Gimlet sister to the iconic Japanese champion Vodka. “We’ve sent a pretty nice group of mares to him and we’ve been rewarded,” says O’Rourke.
“Obviously it’s early days but the ones we have look promising – I can see them being very nice individuals come the autumn. They’re good-sized individuals but with substance. They’re agile horses, very light on their feet. Once the grass starts to grow and they get the warmth on their backs, I can see them developing into lovely individuals.”
Outside breeders liked what they saw
Outside breeders obviously liked what they saw from the early stages of development from Masar’s first foals given that he covered a second book of approximately 100 mares in 2021. In Godolphin’s case, they further underlined their belief by sending 13 mares, among them repeat visitor Bean Feasa.
The list also includes G1 Prix de Diane heroine West Wind, G2 winner Fintry, herself currently in the news as dam of the G1-placed One Ruler, and Listed winners Expressiy and Sooraah. As in his first book, there is a healthy smattering of Shamardal mares, represented in this instance by three daughters including Fintry, alongside five by Dubawi, among them the full- or half-sisters to G1 performers Polarisation (Finata), Lady Of Dubai (Indian Skies) and Master Of The Seas (Latharna Skies) in addition to Bean Feasa.
“Masar is a grand-looking horse with a lovely page,” says O’Rourke. “He was a horse with a lot of speed. He falls between two stools almost as he had the speed to win in May at two yet went on to win the Derby.”
He adds: “What I call good judges in potential stallions are supporting him and that gives me a lot of optimism.”
It’s not often that a stallion at this price point possesses the kind of early backing that has been granted to Masar. It is indicative of the high regard that Godolphin held him in, as befits a Derby winner with the pace to win first time out over 6f, and in turn, gives him every opportunity to succeed.
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