From overwhelmed to overjoyed: the Group 1-winning owner-breeder toasting patience and precocity

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On this occasion, James Thomas catches up with David Ward, breeder of exciting first-season sire Starman – subscribers can get more great insight every Monday to Friday.

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Patience is a virtue, never more so than when it comes to matters of the Turf. Owner-breeder David Ward plainly has it in spades. 

This was in evidence on Saturday when his pale blue colours were carried to victory by Scenic, who rewarded the decision to keep her in training at five by winning the Group 3 Bronte Cup Stakes at York. Bigger things may now well await.  

Another noteworthy name who benefited from this patience is champion sprinter Starman. However, very little of Ward’s forbearance has been required during the July Cup winner’s debut season with runners, as he heads the first-season sire standings with a burgeoning stud CV. 

His seven European scorers are led by the unbeaten Lady Iman, whose three from three record includes victories in the Listed First Flier Stakes and the Group 3 Naas Juvenile Sprint. The latter result was a particularly notable outcome for the stallion, as Lady Iman held off another of Starman’s daughters in Green Sense. 

“So far so good,” Ward says as he reflects on Starman’s fast start at stud. “He’s done everything we thought he’d do. Speaking to a number of trainers who have his progeny, the temperament and the attitude he’s passed on is outstanding, and a few talented ones have come out so far.

“I think they’re very pleased with him at Tally-Ho and I believe they’ve had as much interest in him as any stallion they’ve ever stood. He’s full this year, which in his fourth year is pretty remarkable.”

Ward bred Starman, just his second homebred runner, by sending the Montjeu mare Northern Star to Cheveley Park Stud’s Dutch Art in 2016. 

Although he retired with five wins to his name, including that memorable success in the July Cup, one thing he couldn’t boast was juvenile form as he did not debut until midway through his three-year-old season. 

While a debut crop numbering 212 foals means he has been well fancied to claim the champion first-season sire crown by volume of winners, his later-maturing profile meant not everyone expected Starman to produce a flurry of early winners. Not that his breeder ever had any doubts on this score.  

“I think there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding with him in so much as, because he didn’t run at two, some people have thought he couldn’t breed two-year-old winners himself,” he says. “That was never the case. I just didn’t run him at two, that’s the only reason he didn’t go to the track. 

“He was fully capable of running at two but I always prefer to give my horses time and don’t do much with them as juveniles. I haven’t had a two-year-old runner this year, for example, even though I’ve got plenty of Starmans to run. 

“So yes, Starman was a horse who got better from three to four, but that was more down to the fact we never ran him at two. I think he was just an example of being patient, but that’s not to say he can’t breed two-year-old winners because obviously he can. I think we’ll see a lot more good horses coming through over the summer months too.” 

Starman: the Tally-Ho resident has made a blistering start with his runnersCredit: Alice Fitzgerald

Ward says he has “eight or nine” of his own Starman two-year-olds in training this year, with the same number in the pipeline as yearlings too. The squad has been spread between Karl Burke, Tom Dascombe, Hugo Palmer and the stallion’s former trainer, the red hot Ed Walker. 

Ward jokes that he has “about 25 David Bowie song titles to use up” naming his Starman progeny. He has already allocated one Bowie-inspired name to the filly out of Ediyva, who was one of several significant broodmare purchases made with the intention of supporting the stallion. 

“I’ve spent a reasonable amount of money to get some nice, speedy mares who we think will suit him,” he says. “It’s a long process between buying the mare, getting a foal and getting them to the track, but it’s exciting. The first one who’ll run is called The Prettiest Star. 

“She’ll be out this month, I believe. She’s very nice and hopefully she’ll be pretty good. She’s out of Ediyva, a Kingman mare from the Aga Khan, and we’re very hopeful about her. When my first homebred Starman wins you’ll probably see me blubbing away!”

Ward has spoken candidly about his journey with Starman, and how he had to come to terms with the notion of a stallion career and all that entails. 

While some owners would be rubbing their hands at the thought of a lucrative stud deal, Ward, who quickly acknowledges how fortunate he is to be in such a position, clearly found the idea of parting with his homegrown hero something of a wrench. 

But, having got to grips to a situation he describes as “pretty traumatic”, he is now revelling in the latest chapter. 

“At the time, towards the end of 2021, it was new ground and it was such a big thing to have a horse that was going to be a stallion,” he says. “I think that overwhelmed me to some extent, and it was pretty traumatic deciding on where he was going to go. 

“Since then, in the cold light of day, when I analyse how fortunate I’ve been and for him to have gone to where he’s gone to at Tally-Ho, and for him to have the start he’s had, it’s difficult to put it all into words. It’s just fantastic.

“I was in Florida when Lady Iman won on her first start and it was an emotional thing. It was his first runner, first winner, it was for Tally-Ho. It was like having your first homebred winner all over again. It’s indescribable really, I just feel very lucky and very blessed, and I don’t take where I am lightly. I feel like I’ve got a runner most days now whenever Starman has a runner. It’s been a wonderful journey, and long may it continue.” 

Lady Iman provided Starman with his first winner and stakes scorerCredit: Patrick McCann

Starman certainly has the weight of numbers on his side as he covered a combined 304 mares across his second and third season books. If the offspring from those matings show the same sort of ability that Lady Iman and co have, then Ward should have plenty to get excited about over the coming years. 

“Tally-Ho have found it quite amazing that he’s got the level of support he has in his third and fourth years,” he says. “Mehmas and Kodiac have done wonderfully well for them, and if Starman can follow suit I’d be more than happy. You need longevity with these stallions. This year is very important for the obvious reasons commercially, but you’d be hoping some of these two-year-olds will turn into even better horses as three-year-olds. He should get a better class of mares over the years if he continues to do what he’s doing. That’s the aim anyway.”

It is, of course, far too early to be worrying about Starman’s legacy in thoroughbred terms. However, Ward brings the human aspect of the story into sharp relief.  

“He’s got plenty of soldiers on the ground this year, and hopefully he will for many years to come,” he says. “Hopefully this is a long-term thing and his legacy will go on into the future. From a racing perspective I’ve been very blessed and very fortunate, and I don’t take that for granted. We all know what racing can be like, it gives with one hand and takes with another sometimes.

“I was trying to explain all this to some of the grandkids when they came to York with me on Saturday. I always think about the future and how it’ll be nice for them to look back and see what we’ve achieved, and what Starman has achieved.”

Ward has experienced those ups and downs first hand with Starman’s own family. His dam was lost after she delivered her third foal, Lodestar, who in turn lost her first foal, a Dutch Art filly closely related to Starman. 

He still has plenty to look forward to with other members of the pedigree, though. Starman’s older half-sister Sunday Star, a Group 3-placed daughter of Kodiac, has her first foal, the two-year-old Frankel filly Sunday Girl, in training with Walker. 

“There’s no rush with her, I just want her to have a good time and hopefully she’ll come out for a run or two later in the season,” Ward says. “Sunday Star had a lovely Frankel colt this year and she’s gone to Chaldean.” 

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Lodestar bred a Mehmas filly last year and is back in foal to the record-breaking sire of two-year-olds. This pair form part of Ward’s nine-strong broodmare band. 

In the more immediate future, there is not only Starman’s progeny to look forward to, but this year’s racing string too. Queen’s Reign is entered in the Group 3 Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Epsom on Saturday, while Scenic looks set to return to the Knavesmire and test her Group 1 credentials. 

“She seems to really relish York, which is great for me as I love the track,” Ward says of the daughter of Lope De Vega. “I think the main aim for her now will, hopefully, be the Yorkshire Oaks in August. It’s a little ambitious, but why not? She likes the track, she’s improving. There are other alternatives for her, but that’s the race I’d have in the back of my mind.” 

Given his breeding interests, was leaving Scenic in training an easy decision to make? 

“Yes and no,” he says. “I thought she had the ability to be better than she’d shown. She won really well in the Galtres Stakes at York, when she showed a good turn of foot over a mile and a half, so I always thought she had more improvement in her. A lot of these mares improve with age, and since turning five she’s certainly done that. I always thought she had more to give, and so far this year that’s proved to be the case.” 

York has proved to be a happy hunting ground for Ward’s horses. As well as Scenic’s two black-type successes, Starman landed the 2021 running of the Duke of York Stakes, two days before Primo Bacio claimed the Listed Michael Seely Memorial Stakes. 

“I love the place,” he says. “It’s a track I always used to visit with my father as a boy. I've seen some fantastic horses run there over the years, so to have runners that can compete – or even win – there is pretty special. It’s a special place for me.” 

It was through his father, who had in turn inherited an interest from his father, that Ward was introduced to racing as a child. Suffice to say, he has already come a long way since taking the leap from racegoer to owner and now breeder. Given his patient approach hasn’t seen him go too far wrong thus far, who knows what the future may hold? 

“I’m in a very different world from when I started having runners back in 2012,” he says. “I’ve come a long way and have a very different level of horse to race and breed now. I’m not blank to the fact that I’ve been very fortunate given how things have turned out. For somebody in my small situation, so far as being an owner-breeder, you couldn’t imagine this in your wildest dreams.”

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Pedigree pick

The Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden (4.35) over seven and a half furlongs that opens the Leopardstown card looks a humdinger from a pedigree perspective. 

Arguably the most eye-catching page belongs to the Niarchos family homebred Thenandnow, who will be saddled by Jessica Harrington and is the mount of Shane Foley. The filly is by Dubawi and is the second foal out of Albigna, whose own two-year-old career featured a victory in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac.

The daughter of Zoffany also won the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes at two, and wasn’t beaten far when fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Her pedigree makes plenty of appeal too, as she is out of the Prix de Pomone scorer Freedonia, which in turn makes her a half-sister to the Listed-winning sprinter Polybius. 

Coolmore have unleashed some smart types in this race in recent times, think September, who struck in 2017, and last year’s winner Bedtime Story. 

Aidan O’Brien is double-handed this time around, with Minerva the choice of Ryan Moore. The 1,500,000gns Frankel filly is out of dual US Grade 2 winner Prize Exhibit, who is also a full-sister to Mohaather. This means Minerva is bred on the same Frankel - Showcasing cross as champion two-year-old filly and Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Lake Victoria. 

Ballydoyle’s other runner is Moments Of Joy, who was bred by Orpendale, Chelston and Wynatt. She is by Justify and out of the Galileo mare Shell House. This not only makes Moments Of Joy a sibling to smart types United Front and Hudson Ridge, she is also bred on the nick responsible for City Of Troy. 

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