The exciting start to Sulamani's stud career continued apace at Nottingham on Wednesday when his first-crop son Mastery ran out a hugely impressive winner on debut of an eight-and-a-half-furlong two-year-old maiden. Maiden races at Nottingham in the autumn are notorious for throwing up future stars, and that is exactly what Mastery looks to be.
Both divisions of this race were won by colts owned by Sheikh Hamdam Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and trained by Mark Johnston, with the previous heat having been won by Alanbrooke (a son of Sulamani’s sire Hernando from the family of top-class performers Alborada, Albanova and Dragon Dancer) who had the benefit of a promising run at Sandown under his belt – but Mastery recorded a time nearly a second faster in winning his division. In coming home four and a half lengths clear of the promising Dubai Destination colt Kings Destiny, Mastery showed that he is ready for a marked step up in class, and it would be no surprise to see him emulate the achievements of his Group One-winning half-brother Kirklees.
Mastery is the fifth winner from only ten runners for Sulamani, and as the former six-time G1 winner also has the promising debut scorer Quai D’Orsay among his winners it has to be said that Sulamani is currently looking like a Classic sire of the future.
In Ireland, Croisultan, by Refuse To Bend, recorded his second win, coming home in front of Definite Opinion, by fellow freshman stallion Kheleyf, in the five-furlong nursery at Navan.
