How Whatton Manor Has Become A Major Player

The makers of the popular BBC programme Country File could easily film a riveting episode just within the 700 acres of Nottinghamshire countryside that is Whatton Manor Stud. The farm is home to Longhorn cattle and rare breeds such as Wensleydale sheep and Suffolk Punch horses. But its main business is of course the breeding and rearing of thoroughbreds, something the Player family has done increasingly well in the 40 years since Peter Player inherited the farm from his aunt.

An inheritance of a plot of such rich land deep in the Vale of Belvoir can be regarded as fortunate, but it is one which has given rise to decades of work. Peter's son Ed is now at the forefront of the business and he speaks with reverence of the dedication his 80-year-old father has shown to the place for half his life. 

“There were no horse paddocks at all when we first came here,” he says. “It was cattle or arable land completely, but the Vale of Belvoir is well known for being brilliant land and he thought he could make a go of it with horses. My father was managing Hadrian Stud for the Wells family and then they sold Hadrian and for the next 40 years, his lifetime's work has been building up this stud up from scratch. Initially, we started with no fences and now it's up to 700 acres of fenced land.”

He adds, “We're an hour from the Doncaster sales and around 40 minutes to Newmarket, so it works very well for us.”

It is the latter destination, and Tattersalls in particular, which will be occupying Player's thoughts and time over the next fortnight. At Book 1 this coming week Whatton Manor Stud offers its strongest draft to date.

The eight at Book 1 are consigned for a range of clients, including the Players' Nottinghamshire neighbours Fiona and Mick Denniff, who are selling an Invincible Spirit (Ire) half-brother to group winners Beat The Bank (GB) and Chil Chil (GB), as well as Andrew Stone of St Albans Bloodstock and Rabbah Bloodstock. For the last two named, Whatton Manor consigns three Dubawi (Ire) yearlings, including a half-brother to this year's G3 Solario S. winner Silver Knott (GB), a 725,000gns purchase by Godolphin from Stone and Whatton Manor at Book 1 in 2021.

Making the quick buck is always the wrong choice; we want to have a reputation for breeding good horses

“Over the years, we've not really had many in Book 1,” Player says. “We've had the odd ones in certain years, but we've been very much more a Book 2 draft. Luckily, we've got some very good clients who breed some very nice horses, which gives us the opportunity to sell these horses in Book 1. We've always aspired to do so but it's easier said than done. You've only got to look through the catalogue at the moment and it's lot after lot of beautiful pedigrees.”

He continues, “To have a nice draft this year is very exciting. I'm happy to work with any stock, and I get just as much fun out of a horse we've sold for £2,000 that wins five races, but as the quality of mares here has improved, we've been lucky and had a lot of good horses from the farm.”

One of those is a young stallion who will no doubt soon be represented by some of his stock at Whatton Manor Stud. David Ward's G1 July Cup winner Starman (GB) was bred at the farm, and the Tally-Ho Stud resident is reported to have been one of the busiest stallions in Ireland this year.

“David is such an enthusiast and he very much views his involvement as a team with myself, Ed Sackville and Ed Walker,” says Player. “We all have our part and if something good like Starman comes along he's very appreciative and thanks us all for each individual bit we've all done, whether it's Ed deciding on the matings, us looking after the horse for the first two years of his life, and then Ed Walker training him beautifully, or Brian O'Rourke breaking him in.”

He continues, “Starman was bred from David Ward's first broodmare, and was the second horse he ever bred. The first was Sunday Star (GB) who was stakes-placed seven times. When Starman won the July Cup, it was very emotional, a very special day for all of us.”

The aforementioned Silver Knott, who holds an entry for the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy later this month, is one of the most recent star graduates and has provided his Group 1-winning dam God Given (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) with an excellent start to her broodmare career for Andrew Stone, who is also the owner-breeder of the G3 Chipchase S. winner Sense Of Duty (GB) (Showcasing {GB}).

“Again, Andrew is a hugely enthusiastic person loves his racing and puts a lot into the sport. He's had a very good year this year. Sense Of Duty was born here as well, and I know they really felt she was a Group 1 filly. She's had an issue but hopefully she can come back next year. Then to breed Silver Knott out of his pride and joy, God Given, was fantastic. We have a very nice Dubawi to offer from the mare [lot 504].”

Player admits to a few grey hairs emerging these last few years watching horses like God Given's Dubawi colt grow, but says, “The most important thing for us is that they go out in a big field and they learn to be proper horses. We don't mollycoddle them to make sure they're perfect sales horses.

“Occasionally, accidents happen and you try to do everything to stop those but being a racehorse is crucial. My father always said to me, 'Keep it as close to nature as possible, and if you have racehorses off the farm, the money will come.' Making the quick buck is always the wrong choice. We want to have a reputation for breeding good horses.”

That certainly has become a hallmark of Whatton Manor Stud, as has the eye for a good pinhook. This is not only something that Ed Player enjoys doing but also the eldest of his three sons, Freddie. Now 16, Freddie has been pinhooking with some notable success for several years now. He first dabbled in 2017 when buying a Dandy Man (Ire) filly foal for 7,000gns and selling her on for £24,000. Later known as Dr Simpson (Fr), she won the G3 Mercury S. at Dundalk. Another of the young Player's pinhooks was the listed winner and multiple group-placed Method (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), while his father, along with Ed Sackville, bought subsequent four-time international Group/Grade 1 winner State Of Rest (Ire) as a foal, as well as G2 Lowther S. winner Besharah (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}).

Half the fun is making a judgement call: which stallions you like, which you think are going to be successful

“We get a huge amount of fun out of doing it,” says Player. “Obviously, the whole purpose of doing it is to try to make money, but when you have a horse like State Of Rest winning at Royal Ascot, that's a hugely exciting day. We bought him for 45,000 and sold him for 60,000, so he didn't make us much money, but the fun we've had has more than made up for it.”

He recalls, “He was a tall, good-moving horse that we struggled to get quite as much weight on as we wanted. We thought he was going to make a lot of money and things didn't quite work as we hoped, but he went to a great trainer and people have had great success out of him. It is a lovely story for people not buying horses for ridiculous sums of money.

“Half the fun is making a judgement call: which stallions you like, which you think are going to be successful. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you get it wrong.”

It hasn't always been horses at the forefront of Player's mind. Though growing up at the stud with his sister Alice–who is married to Goffs auctioneer and breeder Nick Nugent–and encouraged to be hands-on from an early age by their father, Ed worked in the city for ten years before returning home. 

“Growing up, it was all hands on deck as my father was working every hour of the day to make ends meet and trying to get a business going,” he says. “So we never sat at home and did our homework. We were always out in the field, and from an early age it was my love, but I like to think I was sensible enough not to go straight into it. I learned about business and accounts, got my city qualifications and had a lovely time, but that was a stopgap to always wanting to come back and being lucky enough to have a business that my father was building up.”

He continues, “It's very much been a family effort from all of us. My mother's been a huge part of it. Now Freddie's very involved and loves it. From an early age, he has been obsessed with the pedigrees, the breeding, the racing, the sales. The younger two, Archie and Harry, are getting more involved and enjoying it. That's half the fun for me, if we can do it as a family, and they all come feeding with me at weekends.”

The future of Whatton Manor Stud appears to be in good hands, then, and if you are wondering which rabbit Freddie Player will pull from the hat next then be sure to inspect his Magna Grecia (Ire) colt out of Occupation (Ire), who is part of Whatton Manor's 23-lot draft for Book 2.

Like many, Player expresses his amazement at how well the bloodstock industry came through the pandemic and continues to thrive. 

“It was extraordinary,” he says. “I couldn't believe the market would be that strong, and I can't believe it's been this strong this year. Our industry has this amazing resilience and seems to come up with new people to buy horses.” 

Though he has given the youngsters in his care as much of a head start as possible while spending their formative years in the sweeping paddocks of Whatton Manor, it is understandable that Player, like any consignor, has the odd nerve-jangle as sales times approaches.

“It concerns me how many more horses have got to be sold this year, despite it being so strong so far, but we try to keep our heads down and keep working away,” he says. “I think we've got a very good bunch that's going to sell for a range of prices, and I'd be astounded if there weren't some very good racehorses amongst them.”

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Ward Living the Dream With Starman

When the affable David Ward bought a Montjeu (Ire) yearling filly at Goffs Orby through SackvilleDonald for €50,000 in 2011, he could not have envisaged the journey she would take he and his family on over the next 10 years.

Named Northern Star (Ire), she was no world-beater on the track, winning a maiden at Bath as a 3-year-old; however, her record as a broodmare was impeccable before her untimely death after delivering just three foals. Her second foal was Starman (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}), who carried Ward's colours to victory in the G1 Darley July Cup at Newmarket last year and who is about to embark on his second career as a stallion at Tally-Ho Stud. Northern Star, who represented Ward's first foray into racehorse ownership, had initially produced Sunday Star (GB) (Kodiac {GB}), who was a dual winner and a solid stakes performer before being retired to join Ward's select broodmare band at the Player family's Whatton Manor Stud.

Although Ward's main business activity of running a major family owned recycling and waste management company takes up plenty of his time, he has also committed significant time and resources into ensuring that Starman receives the best possible start to his new career.

“My racing interests have sort of been split up into two parts at the moment,” Ward explained. “There are the current horses that are in training and there are the horses bought under the Northern Star Bloodstock banner that have been purchased to promote Starman's stallion career. Some will be covered by Starman and then offered for sale late this year, and others will be covered with the intention of racing the stock.”

Ward made quite a splash at Goffs November, where his purchases included the Aga Khan-bred Ediyva (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) for €300,000 and the G3 Sweet Solera S. winner Muraaqaba (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) from Shadwell for €160,000. The mares are carrying foals by Siyouni (Fr) and Dark Angel (Ire), and Ward said he is keeping an open mind about future plans for those imminent arrivals.

“They are two very nice covers but it depends on how commercial I go with the whole thing,” he said. “I am going to have to be seen to be selling certain progeny, so the most likely scenario is that the Dark Angel and Siyouni will be sold as my focus is really on Starman and getting him going. The mares will then be definitely bred to Starman and I will be aiming to keep the majority of that resulting progeny to race for myself.”

Ward was also busy at Tattersalls, coming away with five mares, but a slightly different approach is being adopted with these.

“These are a more commercial bunch in that I will probably sell a few in foal to Starman just to get his name out there at the sales. It's not set in stone but there is the guts of a plan there; we'll just finalise things as we go along. Ultimately I need to sell nice horses that will give Starman the best chance of success.”

Ward's new stallion is in good company in Tally-Ho, standing alongside the ever-dependable Kodiac (GB), rising star Mehmas (Ire), champion first-crop sire Cotai Glory (GB), Group 1 producer Galileo Gold (GB) and the soon-to-be-tested Kessaar (Ire) and Inns Of Court (Ire). The farm's record at starting off young stallions from relatively inexpensive covering fees is excellent and the partnership makes a lot of sense to Ward.

“I had a relationship with Tally-Ho already having used Kodiac and they expressed an interest in standing Starman. Having taken all the other factors into account we were more than happy to forge an alliance,” Ward said. “He's definitely in the right hands and it's a situation I am very happy about. There has been plenty of interest in the horse from breeders in Ireland and England; if he could go on to mirror the success of Kodiac or Mehmas that would be amazing. Tally-Ho also have a significant broodmare band and will be supporting Starman with their own mares, so he really is going to get every chance.”

Although he reached the pinnacle of the sport by winning a July Cup, 2021 wasn't all about Starman in the Ward stable as he was also represented by the smart filly Primo Bacio (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}). The 4-year-old, who is also in the care of Ed Walker, won a listed race at York last May but her form tapered off slightly when upped in grade later in the season. Despite that, she still boasts a rating of 112 and Ward is keen to give her another crack at the big time this season.

“Primo Bacio is back in training and we're hoping she might win another stakes race this year. She is not over-raced and she deserves another season of racing before she retires to stud. Obviously Starman will feature in her plans when she does retire so she will be another nice mare for him.”

Ward also has some 2-year-olds to look forward to this year having been active at the yearling sales last autumn.

“I think we have seven 2-year-olds this year, all bought at Tattersalls and Goffs last year except two homebred fillies and the majority are with Ed [Walker]. We bought a lovely Mehmas filly off Tally-Ho Stud at Book 1 and I have a well-bred Lope De Vega (Ire) filly as well. I also picked up a very nice colt by Wootton Bassett (GB), so hopefully we have plenty of ammunition to give us an exciting summer.”

On the matings front, Ward is also launching the breeding career of Starman's older sister Sunday Star, whose first cover had been delayed due to a problem with an ovary. With that issue rectified, the 6-year-old will visit the mighty Frankel (GB). Northern Star's third and final produce was a daughter of Kingman (GB) called Lodestar (GB) who, despite showing promise in training, was fast-tracked for a breeding career when Starman began scaling the heights last year. She is due to Dutch Art (GB) this year and will be covered by Kodiac (GB) after that.

While cognisant of his general good fortune with his horses since he got involved a decade ago, Ward still rues what might have been had Northern Star not met a premature end to her life.

“It's just a tragedy she only had three foals, she would certainly be going to some nice stallions if she was still around given what she achieved in a short space of time,” he said. “I just feel lucky that I still have two young fillies from her that will hopefully allow me to develop the family further over time.”

In a sport often dominated by superpowers and with barriers to entry that can be perceived as being extortionate, Ward's success in racing should give those thinking of getting involved inspiration.

“A healthy dose of good luck goes a long way but it's also very important to align yourself with good people who can help you make the best decisions,” Ward said. “I've got a great, patient trainer in Ed Walker and Ed Player and his family do a great job at rearing the stock while another Ed–Mr. Sackville–is my main advisor at the sales. I'm very happy with the team I have in all aspects of the operation.”

Ward concluded, “Last year was fantastic and I may never get to experience something like that again and I feel so fortunate that it did happen, but for me the next best thing will be watching Starman's progeny winning at the races for me and for others, and that's something we can hopefully look forward to in the next few years.”

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Weekly Wrap: A Legend Departs

One horse overshadowed all other news items of the past week as the bloodstock world came to terms with the death of Galileo (Ire) at the age of 23. 

Fulsome tributes have been paid to him from across the globe with the overwhelming feeling being that we will never see his like again. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that many of us felt the same when his own extraordinary sire Sadler's Wells died 10 years ago. That colossus of the breeding world appeared in the third or fourth generation of four group winners at Newmarket's July meeting–Starman (GB), Snow Lantern (GB), Sir Ron Priestley (GB) and Sandrine (GB). That's just a snapshot of course, but it is indicative of how Sadler's Wells still shapes the modern-day Thoroughbred even a decade after his death, and often through that most effective of conduits, Galileo. The same will be true of Galileo in the decades to come.

As the suffixes of the above-named horses show, British breeders enjoyed a good week in Newmarket, with both Group 1 races falling to relatively small operations. David Ward's pride and joy Starman, a son of Dutch Art (GB), gave his breeder deserved compensation for having to miss Royal Ascot with both his intended Group 1 starters when the weather turned foul. 

When interviewed by TDN in May, Ward outlined his hopes for a future stud career for the Ed Walker-trained Starman, whose sole defeat in six starts came in very soft ground on Champions Day last year. Swerving that soft ground again at the Royal Meeting was understandable, and Starman now has the Darley July Cup on his CV along with the G2 Duke Of York S. 

Snow Lantern, who became the fifth Group 1 winner this year for Frankel (GB) when winning the Falmouth S., compensated for the narrow defeat in the same race as her Classic-winning mother Sky Lantern (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}) and become the first top-level winner for Ben and Martha Keswick's Rockliffe Stud. The Gloucestershire farm is home to their nine broodmares and Snow Lantern will presumably eventually return there herself, through encouragingly the Keswicks have expressed a wish for the loose-moving grey to race on at four.

The two Group 1 winners at the July meeting are also a feather in the cap of Ed Sackville, who is the bloodstock advisor for both Rockliffe Stud and David Ward, who keeps his mares at Whatton Manor Stud.

Bobby's Girl

The smartest of the juvenile fillies at this stage of the season is certainly Kirsten Rausing's homebred Sandrine (GB), who represents the fourth generation of Lanwades' Sushila (Ire) family. Just as the unbeaten Sandrine–who added the G2 Duchess of Cambridge S to her victory in the Group 3 win at Royal Ascot–is helping to raise the profile of her young sire Bobby's Kitten, so did Sushila's son Petoski (GB) for his sire Niniski. 

The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner of 1985, Petoski was a member of the first crop of Niniski, the first stallion stood by Rausing after her purchase of Lanwades Stud in 1980. Petoski's victory in the G2 Vintage S., along with the success of that season's champion 2-year-old Kala Dancer (GB), helped Niniski–winner of the Irish St Leger and Prix Royal-Oak–on his way to becoming the champion first-season sire of 1984. He was later succeeded at Lanwades by his Classic-winning son Hernando (Fr).

It would be fair to say that Rausing wears her heart on her sleeve when it comes to her own stallions and, in a terrific season for runners bearing her famous white-and-green-hooped colours, it is a good bet that none has given her more satisfaction than Sandrine, who at this early stage is the ante-post favourite for the 1000 Guineas.

Her victory continued a real purple patch for Rausing, who the previous weekend had celebrated the success of Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G2 Lancashire Oaks. Rausing's most recent Group 1 victory came with Madame Chiang (GB) (Archipenko) in the British Champions Fillies & Mares S., and it would be no surprise to see Sandrine or Alpinista add to that tally before long. 

Andrew Balding, who is also enjoying a fine season, indicated that he would like to give Sandrine a brief spell before tackling the G1 Cheveley Park S., a race the trainer won last year with Jeff Smith's Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never).

The latter, who has gone on to win the G1 Coronation S. this season, had to settle for third in the Falmouth behind Snow Lantern, but Smith's colours were spotted in the winner's enclosure on the July Course aboard Frankella (GB), the second foal of his talented but tiny G1 Juddmonte International winner Arabian Queen (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

The maiden win for the juvenile filly was another example of Frankel working well with a Dubawi mare. The same cross has been season this season in Derby winner Adayar (Ire) and listed winner Mostahdaf (Ire), as well as Frankella's full-brother Spirit Mixer (GB). The 2019 G1 Jebel Hatta winner Dream Castle is also by Frankel and out of Dubawi's Group 2-winning daughter Sand Vixen (GB).

Brothers In Command

The draft of Shadwell fillies, mares and horses in training accounted for almost a sixth of the turnover at a very strong edition of the Tattersalls July Sale last week, and runners bred by the late Sheikh Hamdan also fared well on the track. 

Vying for leading honours were the full-brothers Hukum (Ire) and Baaeed (GB), sons of Sea The Stars (Ire) and the listed winner Aghareed (Kingmambo) trained respectively by Owen Burrows and William Haggas.

Hukum, now four, was a star for Burrows last season, winning the King George V S. at Royal Ascot before landing the G3 Geoffrey Freer S. and finishing fifth in the St Leger. He has continued in similar vein this year with a listed win at Goodwood in May and now his second group win in York's John Smith's Silver Cup.

This came two days after his year-younger sibling Baaeed remained unbeaten when posting one of the most visually impressive wins of the meeting at Newmarket in the listed Sir Henry Cecil S. Baaeed looks capable of contesting bigger and better targets, and though his three wins have all come at a mile, he should be effective over further. His dam won the listed Prix de Liancourt over 10 furlongs for John Hammond, and she is out of the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Lahudood (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), herself a great grand-daughter of Height Of Fashion. 

Another mare in line for top broodmare honours this year is Susan Hearn's Reckoning (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), though there were mixed fortunes for her two star offspring last week.

On the day that Sir Ron Priestley (GB) (Australia {GB}) posted his third stakes win of the season after returning from a 571-day absence, it was revealed that his half-brother, the impressive Ascot Gold Cup winner Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), has suffered a leg injury and has been ruled out of running again this season, if not for good.

That regrettable news, particularly for Subjectivist's owner Dr Jim Walker, was partially softened by the latest hard-earned success of Paul Dean's Sir Ron Priestley, who ground out his second Group 2 win in the Princess of Wales's S. in utterly determined fashion over the strongly backed Al Aasy (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). We may see him next in the King George unless he is supplemented to take his brother's place in the Goodwood Cup.

Ireland On Tour

Aidan O'Brien would certainly have preferred to see Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) notch a double at Epsom, but instead their Derby and Oaks wins came in the New York version, with Ryan Moore in the saddle for both Grade 1 victories at Belmont Park. Santa Barbara's win is particularly noteworthy as she becomes the third consecutive Group/Grade 1 winner for her dam Senta's Dream (GB) (Danehill) after Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}) and Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}).

The overseas runners from Ireland were rampant at the weekend with Ken Condon taking another Group 1 at Deauville in the Prix Jean Prat with Laws Of Indices (Ire) (Power {GB}), who finished just a head in front of the Joseph O'Brien-trained Thunder Moon (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}). The latter, like Santa Barbara, was bred by Aidan and Annemarie O'Brien's Whisperview Trading.

They were backed up by the victory of the Jessica Harrington runner Loch Lein (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), a homebred for Denis and Joan Brosnan of Crooom House Stud, in the listed Prix Amandine. 

Laws Of Indices may well go down as the bargain buy of the year, though he has a rival in that department in Helvic Dream (Ire), who less than two months ago became the first Group 1 winner for their sire Power when defeating Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in the Tattersalls Gold Cup. Helvic Dream was a €12,000 Tattersalls Ireland September yearling bought by Peter Nolan, while Laws Of Indices was bought for €8,000 by Dermot Farrington at the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale.

Laws Of Indices had already proved himself a talented individual last season when beating Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) to win the G2 Railway S. He is a fine advertisement for the ability of his trainer who also sent out last year's G2 Lowther S. winner Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}). The filly was another value buy as a £7,500 Ascot yearling after selling for just €1,000 as a foal.

They followed the 2019 G1 Prix Jacques le Marois victory of the Condon-trained Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), who has just completed his first season at Haras de Bouquetot.

It was also a good week for Power's sire Oasis Dream (GB), who was represented by the winner of the G2 Superlative S., Native Trail (GB). The colt had been a decent pinhook by Norman Williamson, who bought him for 67,000gns through Mags O'Toole at Book 1 and resold him at Tattersalls in April at the Craven Breeze-up sale for 210,000gns to Godolphin. Native Trail, who is unbeaten in two starts, became the fourth winner of the Superlative S. For Charlie Appleby in the last six years following Boynton (GB), Quorto (Ire) and Master Of The Seas (Ire).

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Dutch Art’s Starman On Top In The July Cup

With the weather staying clear ahead of Saturday's G1 Darley July Cup at Newmarket, David Ward's Starman (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) had his day to deliver on all the abundant promise he had shown so far in his brief career in a strong renewal. Successful in the May 12 G2 Duke of York S. over this six-furlong trip, the 9-2 second favourite was buried in mid-division of the group racing stand's side throughout the early stages with the pace rapid up ahead. Staying on powerfully up the rising ground to collar the far-rail runner Art Power (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the final 50 yards, he hit the line with 1 1/4 lengths to spare over the 7-2 favourite Dragon Symbol (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}), with last year's winner Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) a short head behind in third as the stand's-side contingent swallowed up the game long-time leader Art Power in the dying strides. Jockey Tom Marquand was full of praise for the winner. “This lad is as close to a racecar as you can get,” he said. “He was pretty exceptional and you have to put him in the top tier of European sprinting after that–it was an incredible performance.”

This was an epic renewal of the July Cup, with what had already looked a stellar race on paper played out in reality on the famed Suffolk heathland. As the speedball Art Power was steered to the far rail by Silvestre de Sousa to head off last year's G1 Middle Park S. hero Supremacy (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) and gain the early advantage, the reigning G1 Qipco British Champions Sprint S. hero Glen Shiel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) ploughed his furrow up the centre dragging Oxted along in his slipstream. On the stand's side, the exciting 3-year-olds Dragon Symbol and Creative Force (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) followed the tempo set by the outsider Good Effort (Ire) (Shamardal) along with Starman but the latter was outpaced even before halfway with the heat still on full up front. Heading past two out, calling the winner was impossible with a line of sprinters giving their all across the track but Art Power was in no mood to surrender, Oxted was drifting right and TDN Rising Star Dragon Symbol had gained the lead on his side.

Starman had been under the pump a long way before he came steaming through to join Art Power, Glen Shiel, Oxted and Dragon Symbol with 150 yards remaining as the cream rose to the top. In a finish where ultimately only the proven group 1 horses were a factor, Starman who had been denied the opportunity to show himself to be in that category by the deluge that hit Royal Ascot was the one who emerged clear best. Creative Force was staying on strongly at the death along with the race's stalwart Brando (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), but it was the Ed Walker trainee who was heading up a star cast for one of the finest shows of sprinting prowess this track has witnessed.

“The last few days, everyone has been coming in saying it is one of the best July Cups we have seen for a good while,” Marquand said. “For a horse that has had six runs, I thought he showed relative signs of inexperience still but that turn of foot he showed up the hill was nothing short of top-class. He has always felt like he's not done an awful lot in front, so maybe he was just idling until I got there and it sort of flattered the winning distance a little bit. On the July Course, you have those undulations and to be honest it felt like it caught him out a bit at the three pole. Just as things started changing at the three he got a little bit unbalanced and done for a bit of toe, but as soon as he levelled off and worked into top gear there was never a moment that I didn't think I was going to get there, which is a rare feeling in a top-class race like that.”

Introduced almost a year ago to the day, Starman opened his account on Lingfield's Polytrack before impressing when following up at Doncaster in August with the runners-up in both contests being the eventual Wokingham H. second and third Fresh (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) and King's Lynn (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}). Dismissing the York specialist Dakota Gold (GB) (Equiano {Fr}) in that track's Listed Garrowby S. the following month, he was unable to feature when beating only two home in the G1 Qipco British Champions Sprint S. on Ascot's rain-hit champions day card but had regained momentum in the Duke of York as if the latter experience was just a figment of Walker's imagination.

That trainer was enjoying a breakthrough first group 1 winner and said, “It's taken its time, but better late than never as they say. I always believed so much in this horse. I put a lot of pressure on myself and it's great that belief has been vindicated. His only blip was on bad ground at Ascot last season and we've been proved to have made the right call in missing the Royal meeting. I hoped he'd win a group 1 and we dreamed that he'll be a sprinter of a generation. A horse that was going through the grades as quickly as he was, you have to dream. They're all champions when they walk into the yard, but this horse has never let us down.”

Walker also has the recent G3 Sandown Sprint S. winner Came From the Dark (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), but he made it clear that they would be kept apart. “In my mind, they're not in the same league,” he said. “He's a very good horse Came From the Dark, but this guy has that brilliance. Came From the Dark has got guts and battles it out. I think Came From the Dark is more of a five-furlong horse whereas with this guy, it looks like six is the absolute minimum. We'll look at the [Sept. 4 G1 Haydock] Sprint Cup and the [G1] Prix Maurice de Gheest [at Deauville Aug. 8]. For the first time ever in watching him it wasn't happening. I was feeling sorry for myself at the three pole thinking 'more bad luck in big races'. I watched down at the one pole and as they came past me I thought he has still got quite a bit of ground to make up here but he did it.”

Owner-breeder David Ward added, “He's probably a horse of a lifetime. He was just the second horse I've bred. We always believed he was a seriously talented horse and he is.” Oisin Murphy, who rode the winner in the Duke of York but who committed to the runner-up this time, said, “I'm thrilled for Ed Walker. I was given the choice and I picked the wrong one, but I'm thrilled for their team and they're having a fantastic season. I hope Dragon Symbol will get his day, we could well look to France next potentially for the Prix Maurice de Gheest.”

Starman becomes the fourth group 1 winner for Cheveley Park Stud's resident Dutch Art (GB), who was second in this in 2007 and whose previous best was the 2014 July Cup hero Slade Power (Ire). He is also the second foal out of the 10-furlong winner Northern Star (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), a €50,000 Goffs Orby yearling in 2011 whose first was the G3 Oh So Sharp S. and G3 Summer S. third Sunday Star (GB) (Kodiac {GB}). Northern Star is kin to the GII Tampa Bay Derby winner and GI Arkansas Derby runner-up King Guillermo (Uncle Mo) and is a granddaughter of the stakes scorer Slow Down (Seattle Slew) who produced the G3 La Coupe scorer Slow Pace (Distorted Humor) and his GIII Pat Day Mile-winning full-brother Funny Duck. The fourth dam is the GI Beverly Hills H. heroine Corrazona (El Gran Senor), a half to the GI Wood Memorial-winning sire Thirty Six Red (Slew O'Gold). Northern Star's currently last known foal is an unraced 3-year-old filly by Kingman (GB) named Lodestar (GB).

Saturday, Newmarket, Britain
DARLEY JULY CUP S.-G1, £510,750, Newmarket, 7-10, 3yo/up, 6fT, 1:10.11, g/f.
1–STARMAN (GB), 132, c, 4, by Dutch Art (GB)
1st Dam: Northern Star (Ire), by Montjeu (Ire)
2nd Dam: Slow Sand, by Dixieland Band
3rd Dam: Slow Down, by Seattle Slew
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O/B-David Ward (GB); T-Ed Walker; J-Tom Marquand. £289,646. Lifetime Record: 6-5-0-0, $521,936. *1/2 to Sunday Star (GB) (Kodiac {GB}), MGSP-Eng. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Dragon Symbol (GB), 126, c, 3, Cable Bay (Ire)–Arcamist (GB), by Arcano (Ire). (67,000gns Ylg '19 TAOCT). O-Yoshiro Kubota; B-Whitsbury Manor Stud (GB); T-Archie Watson. £109,811.
3–Oxted (GB), 132, g, 5, Mayson (GB)–Charlotte Rosina (GB), by Choisir (Aus). (£400,000 RNA 3yo '19 GOFLON). O-S Piper, T Hirschfeld, D Fish & J Collins; B-Homecroft Wealth Racing (GB); T-Roger Teal. £54,957.
Margins: 1 1/4, NO, NK. Odds: 4.50, 3.50, 5.50.
Also Ran: Art Power (Ire), Creative Force (Ire), Glen Shiel (GB), Brando (GB), Garrus (Ire), Chil Chil (GB), Rohaan (Ire), Emaraaty Ana (GB), Glorious Journey (GB), Line of Departure (Ire), Extravagant Kid, Supremacy (Ire), Method (Ire), Summerghand (Ire), Miss Amulet (Ire), Good Effort (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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