Markaz a high-class brother to sprint star Mecca's Angel

MARKAZ (IRE) - 2012 grey colt

The rise of Dark Angel (by Acclamation) to become a leading European sire has been something of a surprise and he already has a string of sons who at stud. Those include Group 1 star Lethal Force, the pattern scorers Alhebayeb, Gutaifan and Heeraat, and Group 1-placed Tough As Nails, and they will be joined in 2017 by new recruits Estidhkaar and Markaz.​

The latter starts his career at Derrinstown Stud and, in addition to having the considerable attraction of being a full-brother to the Timeform 130-rated dual Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes heroine Mecca's Angel, he has the distinction of having been a notably talented performer in his own right, a dual Group 2-placed six and seven-furlong pattern winner.

He was a pattern-placed winner as a juvenile and at three he won the Group 3 Criterion Stakes over seven furlongs at Newmarket, was beaten by less than three lengths when fourth to Adaay in the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock, and chased home Limato in the Group 2 Park Stakes at Doncaster.

At four, he won the Group 3 Chipchase Stakes over six furlongs on the tapeta at Newcastle, he was fourth to Richard Pankhurst in the Group 2 Hungerford Stakes over seven at Newbury, and was a three-quarter length runner-up to Donnerschlag in the Group 2 Goldene Peitsche over six at Baden-Baden on what was to be his final start. He was awarded that race in the stewards' room, but that decision was later reversed on appeal.

A good looking horse who made £200,000 in Doncaster as a yearling, Markaz and Mecca's Angel are out of the prolific sprint winner Folga (by Atraf), a stakes-placed mare whose unraced juvenile, Dirayah, and current yearling filly – both by Dark Angel - made 825,000gns and 400,000gns respectively from Book 1 in Newmarket.

His grandam is the pattern-winning sprinter Desert Dawn (by Belfort), whose offspring also include the listed scorer Desert Kaya (by Bikala), and the next dam is a four-times winner called Cast Pearls (by Cutlass).​

His talent, and that of his brilliant sister, combined with being a son of the hughly popular Dark Angel, suggest that Markaz will be a popular new addition to the stallion ranks, a potential source of high-class sprinters and of some who will prove best at around a mile.

MARKAZ (IRE) – gr.2012 – Dark Angel – Folga, 3 wins inc Criterion Stakes (Gr3), Chipchase Stakes (Gr3), 2nd Goldene Peitsche (Gr2), Park Stakes (Gr2), Somerville Tattersall Stakes (Gr3), 3rd King Charles II Stakes (L), Spring Trophy Stakes (L). Sire in Ireland. First foals in 2018.