FAMILY TIES - STARMAN

It won’t be long now before the Flat really gets going and considering that I thought I might as well mention Starman. Last time I checked, the Tally Ho freshman was 1/3 favourite to be crowned leading first-season sire. Of course, these odds aren’t everything – Pinatubo was heavily fancied to win it last spring but still ended up fairly well behind Sergei Prokofiev.

It feels too early to state with too much confidence how precocious they might be, or if they’ll be more effective over five furlongs or seven, but perhaps the Breeze-Up Sales could shed some light on that. There are seven Starman two-year-olds catalogued for the Craven Sale, whilst six are currently in for the Goffs Breeze-Up at Doncaster the week after. Tally-Ho Stud are responsible for consigning five of these, and they usually have plenty of quick ones in their draft.

Starman’s yearlings were very well-received by the market last year. There were 139 sold at auction in Europe and they averaged 41,211gns. This was better than the likes of other new boys like A’Ali (27,601gns), Lucky Vega (36,769) and Supremacy (32,870gns). Space Blues, St Mark’s Basilica and Palace Pier all had higher averages but did not field as many individuals through the ring. Several of Starman’s first crop realised north of 100,000gns too, the most expensive of which was a colt that was knocked down for 260,000gns to Amo Racing and Al Shaqab at Tattersalls Book 1.

Starman himself was actually unraced as a two-year-old, but he should still have plenty of juveniles up to bat for him during the course of the season, a good number of which are heading to the breeze-ups. The son of Dutch Art did not make his debut until the July of his third year, although Covid played a part in his running later than he might have otherwise.

He won three times that season, including in Listed company, for Ed Walker and owner David Ward. But undoubtedly, he was best at four, striking in the Duke Of York Stakes and then the July Cup, besting Supremacy, Glen Shiel and Dragon Symbol. Emaraaty Ana was also beaten by him that day, but the result was reversed later in the year, when Starman finished a shorthead behind Emaraaty Ana in the Sprint Cup at Haydock, thus narrowly losing his chance at claiming status as a multiple Group 1 winner.

It goes without saying that Tally Ho have backed him to the hilt and made sure to give him all the ammunition he needs to perform well with his first runners. They know exactly how to launch a successful first-crop stallion too – Mehmas and Cotai Glory both earnt the accolade.

Starman has already missed his chance to be the first freshman stallion off the mark, like Sergei Prokofiev managed last year – Power Blue, a son of Space Blues, triumphed at the Curragh last week. It currently seems unlikely that there will be too many running this side of Royal Ascot, but as he covered 254 mares in his first book, Starman will surely have enough representation to back up the hype.

written by Ella Herbert