New Approach colt Masar shows Group 1 potential

MASAR (IRE) - 2015 chestnut colt

Juvenile champion and classic star New Approach (by Galileo) made a lightning-quick start to his stallion career and, in addition to Royal Ascot two-year-olds, his first crop included champion and 2000 Guineas ace Dawn Approach and Oaks heroine Talent.

His current Group 1 tally stands at six and this is a list to which Masar could add his name at some point. Godolphin's homebred has won two of his four starts, including a two-length defeat of Romanised in last month's Group 3 BetBright Solario Stakes at Sandown, and he finished third to Happily and Olmedo in the Group 1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (Grand Criterium) over a mile at Chantilly yesterday.

The ground was fast when he finished third to September in the Listed Chesham Stakes at Ascot in June, good when he won at Sandown, and soft in France, and his ability to perform on a variety of surfaces should stand him in good stead.

ICYMI: "We feel next year will be his year" Charlie Appleby keen on long-term prospects of Solario winner Masar ▶️ https://t.co/kaJgCi8DXx pic.twitter.com/rctmwkRIVY

— Racing UK (@Racing_UK) September 3, 2017

Masar is the second foal out of Group 2 UAE Derby heroine Khawlah (by Cape Cross), and that half-sister to Group 2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano winner and Group 1 Jebel Hatta runner-up Vancouverite (by Dansili) is out of Villarrica (by Selkirk), a mare who is related to some of the most famous throughbreds of the modern era.

Her immediate relations are her pattern-winning half-brothers Masterstroke (by Monsun) and Moonlight Magic (by Cape Cross) and her Group 2-placed, stakes-winning half-sister Hidden Gold (by Shamardal), and they are all out of Melikah (by Lammtarra), the dual Oaks-placed daughter of Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine and phenomenal broodmare Urban Sea (by Miswaki).

This makes Masar inbred 3x4 to one of the greatest broodmares of all time, the matriarch who gave us Galileo (by Sadler's Wells), Sea The Stars (by Cape Cross) and their Group/Grade 1-winning siblings Black Sam Bellamy (by Sadler's Wells) and My Typhoon (by Giant's Causeway), and whose many notable descendants include her Group 1 Irish Oaks-winning granddaughter Bracelet (by Montjeu).

Urban Sea's half-brother King's Best (by Kingmambo) won the Group 1 2000 Guineas before going on to become a classic sire, her three-parts brother Tertullian (by Miswaki) has sired a Group 1 winner, and the stallions who also descend from her dam, Allegretta (by Lombard), include the Group 1 winners and Group 1 sires Anabaa Blue (by Anabaa) and Tamayuz (by Nayef).

If you go back another generation then you find a branch that leads to Group 1 Deutsches Derby star and leading German sire Adlerflug (by In The Wings), among others of note, and the record of stallions from this distaff line will make Masar a promising prospect should he prove worthy of a berth at stud some day.

The plethora of talented horses in the family also include this year's Group 2-winning fillies Tusked Wings (by Adlerflug) and Armande (by Sea The Stars), both of whom also show inbreeding to mares from this female line.

Right now, Masar is just a Group 1-placed, pattern-winning juvenile whom Timeform rated 110p after Sandown. As you would expect, he holds classic entries and, with his pedigree, he promises to become a leading contender for the best eight to 12-furlong contests of 2018.