A Master Of His Trade

Over the years there have been plenty of Coolmore stallions who have made explosive starts to their stud careers. Mastercraftsman (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) takes high order even in this elite company thanks to having had a Group 1-winning juvenile among his first batch of 2-year-olds in 2013 and three European Classic winners in his first crop of 3-year-olds. Now, at the age of 11, he can be regarded as a fully proven stallion. He has just come up with his latest top-level winner with the victory in the GI Matriarch S. at Del Mar on Sunday of his second-crop daughter Off Limits (Ire). This success means that in November alone Mastercraftsman has been represented by black-type winners in the U.S., the UK, France and Australia.

The two stallions who propelled Coolmore out of the premier league and into a league of its own were Sadler's Wells and Danehill, and that is not overlooking that Caerleon was also a terrific stallion for Coolmore, most notably being champion sire of Great Britain and Ireland in 1991. In time, both Sadler's Wells and Danehill turned out to be great sires of sires as well as sires of racehorses. Long-term, Sadler's Wells has proved to have had a greater influence on Coolmore's roster, largely thanks to the 2001 Derby winner Galileo (Ire). Danehill, champion sire of Great Britain and Ireland in four of the five years between 2003 to 2007, has also made a long-term contribution, most notably via his son Danehill Dancer (Ire), the champion sire of Great Britain and Ireland in 2009. Trained for the Coolmore triumvirate by Aidan O'Brien, Mastercraftsman was Danehill Dancer's principal earner during that championship season so he is very much at home on the Coolmore roster.

As a 2-year-old in 2008, Mastercraftsman matched the feat of his father, who had won both of Ireland's top juvenile races 13 years previously: the G1 Phoenix S. over six furlongs and the G1 National S. over seven furlongs. As a 3-year-old, however, Mastercraftsman clearly exceeded his father's achievements. Danehill Dancer had been a smart 3-year-old in 1996, taking the G3 Greenham S. over seven furlongs at Newbury on his resumption. That, though, proved to be his final victory. In fact, he was only ever placed once after that, when third behind Anabaa in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest over 1300 metres. By contrast, Mastercraftsman was a proper star as a 3-year-old in 2009. He wasn't the best of his generation as he finished behind Sea The Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) on each of the three occasions when they met, but he was arguably Europe's second-best 3-year-old that year, as he showed with victories over a mile in the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas S. at The Curragh and the G1 St. James's Palace S. at Royal Ascot.

One of three pattern performers produced by his dam Starlight Dreams (Black Tie Affair), Mastercraftsman hails from the family of 2001 G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sakhee (Bahri) and of 1986 G1 St Leger S. and G1 Champion S. runner-up Celestial Storm (Roberto). He was clearly a very appealing stallion prospect and he duly joined the Coolmore roster in 2010 at a fee of €20,000, standing alongside not only his father but also his paternal half-brother Choisir (Aus).

Mastercraftsman made an instant impression with his first juveniles in 2013. The Roger Varian-trained Kingston Hill (GB) was the star colt courtesy of back-to-back wins in the autumn over a mile in the G3 Autumn S. at Newmarket and the G1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster. The Aidan O'Brien-trained G3 Killavullan S. winner Craftsman (Ire) and The Grey Gatsby–who won the prestigious Convivial Maiden S. at York on debut before being twice placed in pattern company including finishing second in the G2 Champagne S. at Doncaster–played the chief supporting roles. Leading lady was Amazing Maria (Ire), who took the G3 Prestige S. over seven furlongs at Goodwood.

Things got even better the next year for Mastercraftsman. Craftsman headed to the U.S., where he won in stakes company; Kingston Hill and The Grey Gatsby stayed where they were and developed into Classic stars. The former finished second to Australia (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Derby S. before winning the G1 St. Leger S.; the latter, superbly handled by Kevin Ryan, won the G2 Dante S. at York and the G1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly in the spring before graduating to weight-for-age company during the summer, chasing home Australia in the G1 Juddmonte International S. at York and then beating the Derby winner in the G1 Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown. A third Classic winner for the stallion during the season was Vague Nouvelle (Ire), successful in the G3 Premio Regina Elena, Italy's equivalent of the 1,000 Guineas. Another member of the crop to enjoy a good year was the super-tough Master Carpenter (Ire), whose two black-type triumphs were headed by the G3 Prix Daphnis.

Amazing Maria proved a big disappointment as a 3-year-old, running poorly in her three starts including finishing last in the Oaks. However, she blossomed into stardom at four under the care of David O'Meara. She landed a sparkling hat-trick during the summer of 2015, taking successively the G2 Windsor Forest S. over a mile at Royal Ascot, the G1 Falmouth S. over a mile at Newmarket and the G1 Prix Rothschild over 1600 metres at Deauville.

The success of Mastercraftsman's early runners reinvigorated his stud career. His fee had slipped to €12,500 in 2013 but it shot up to €35,000 in 2014 once his first juveniles had done well and then to €40,000 in 2015 after his offspring's Classic successes. The progeny resultant from those season's books of good mares are now 2-year-olds and yearlings, so it is not unreasonable to suggest that things might get even better for the stallion from next year onwards. And that is a big call, as his current results are very good anyway, his tally of group/graded/listed victories for 2017 currently standing at 20.

One of his brightest stars this year has been his second-crop daughter Off Limits who, having won in listed company in Ireland as a 3-year-old in 2015, has progressed further since going to America where she has recently landed a graded stakes hat-trick culminating in her triumph in the GI Matriarch S. at Del Mar. Mastercraftsman's promising batch of juveniles this year are headed by Alpha Centauri (Ire) and Wind Chimes (GB), stakes winners in Ireland and France, respectively.

Mastercraftsman has also produced good horses in his shuttling stints to Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand. To date, he has been represented by 13 New Zealand-bred group winners headed by this year's G1 Thorndon Mile H. heroine Thee Auld Floozie (NZ) and last year's G1 International S. victrix Valley Girl (NZ). He is also responsible for two winners of the G2 Wakeful S. at Flemington: Thunder Lady (NZ) and Luvaluva (NZ), successful in that time-honoured Spring Carnival feature in 2014 and 2017, respectively.