Classic winner Magician finds new home at Meelin Stud as dual-purpose sire

Classic hero Magician, winner of not only the Irish 2,000 Guineas but also the Breeders’ Cup Turf, is to stand for dual-purpose service at Meelin Stud for 2022.

Magician was a comfortable three-and-a-half length winner of the 2013 Irish 2,000 Guineas, having taken the Group 3 Dee Stakes at Chester on his previous start.

A winner at two, he was to go on from his Classic triumph to beat The Fugue in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita, stepped up to a mile and a half for the first time.

Magician returned at four to win the Group 3 Mooresbridge Stakes and he then hit the crossbar three times as he tried valiantly to add another top-level success to his CV, finishing runner-up in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, Prince of Wales's Stakes and Arlington Million, on what was to prove the final race of his successful career.

His earnings amounted to more than £1.5 million, and he was a winner of five of his 14 starts.

A son of the late great Galileo, Magician is out of the Listed-winning Group 3-placed Mozart mare Absolutelyfabulous. He is a full-brother to Keeneland Grade 3 winner Apple Betty and Belmont Stakes-placed Outstanding.

The family contains potent distaff influences, notably Sequoyah, dam of dual 2,000 Guineas winner and multiple Group 1 scorer Henrythenavigator. Sequoyah herself is a full-sister to Group 1 Fillies’ Mile winner Listen, with both mares half-siblings to the Listed-winning, Group 3-placed Oyster Catcher.

Magician stood six seasons at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky, before a couple of years at Haras de Corlay, while this year he saw service at Allevamenti della Berardenga for €4,000.

He will stand for the same sum for 2022 at Meelin Stud in County Cork, whose proprietor Patrick McCarthy said: "He’s a beautiful stamp and he did it himself. He was an exceptional racehorse and his progeny are winning under both codes. I’m very lucky to have a horse of his calibre to stand at Meelin Stud."

Cardini has been his highest-rated European winner, with a top Racing Post Rating of 105, while current representatives are led by the Group 3 Killavullan Stakes-placed I Am Magic, who was a 200,000gns Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale acquisition by BBA Ireland.

Mister Nino, a dual Listed-placed winner in France, and the David Simcock-trained Starczewski add to his Flat representatives, while Bashful Boy joins David Pipe as an exciting, progressive hurdler. His most recent Stateside Flat scorers include Excess Magic, Mystic Dreams and Sume Una.

Magician adds dual-purpose appeal alongside current Meelin Stud Flat sires Son Of Rest, a winning son of the late Pivotal, and Flash Gordon, the Group 3-placed son of sire-of-sires Kodiac.

A concession for nominations to black-type mares and filly foal progeny will be applicable to 11-year-old Magician.

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