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Marju

Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Marju (12 March 1988, 11 October 2016) was a Thoroughbred racehorse and successful sire.

01Background

Marju was a dark bay or brown horse bred by Kilcarn Stud and owned by Hamdan Al Maktoum. He was sired by Last Tycoon out of Flame of Tara. He was a half-brother to Group One winner Salsabil.

Marju's sire Last Tycoon was a European champion sprinter and the winner of the Breeders' Cup Mile, the King's Stand Stakes, and the William Hill Sprint Championship, as well as being crowned English Champion Sprinter and French Champion Sprinter in 1986. He was a successful sire, siring Ezzoud, Bigstone, and successful sire O'Reilly. Flame of Tara was a group two winning mare in England and Ireland, as well as being the dam of Irish Derby winning filly Salsabil.

02Racing career

Trained by John Dunlop, Marju raced 7 times during his career and was ridden by Willie Carson each time. He won 3 races including the Craven Stakes and the St. James's Palace Stakes, as well as finishing second to Generous in the 1991 Epsom Derby. He won a total prize money of £282,640.

03Stud record

Retired to stud duty at Derrinstown Stud, Ireland in 1992, Marju was shuttled to New Zealand in 2000 and to Australia in 2001-02, and pensioned at Derrinstown Stud, Ireland in 2011. He sired 61 stakes winners, including Soviet Song, My Emma, Sil Sila, Satono Crown, Viva Pataca and Indigenous. He is the grandsire of Ramonti, Tastiera and Not So Sleepy. Marju died of natural causes at his owner's Derrinstown Stud in Ireland on 11 October 2016.

Notable progeny

Marju has sired 12 individual Group 1 winners, as well as being a successful broodmare sire.

c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding

04Pedigree

Pedigree of Marju (IRE), brown horse, 1998
Sire
Last Tycoon (IRE)
1983
Try My Best (USA)
1975
Northern Dancer (CAN)
1961
Nearctic (CAN)
1954
Natalma (USA)
1957
Sex Appeal (USA)
1970
Buckpasser (USA)
1963
Best in Show (USA)
1965
Mill Princess (IRE)
1977
Mill Reef (USA)
1968
Never Bend (USA)
1960
Milan Mill (USA)
1962
Irish Lass (IRE)
1962
Sayajirao (GB)
1944
Scollata (GB)
1952
Dam
Flame of Tara (IRE)
1980
Artaius (USA)
1974
Round Table (USA)
1954
Princequillo (GB)
1940
Knights Daughter (GB)
1941
Stylish Pattern (USA)
1961
My Babu (FR)
1945
Sunset Gun (GB)
1955
Welsh Flame (GB)
1973
Welsh Pageant (FR)
1966
Tudor Melody (IRE)
1956
Picture Light (FR)
1954
Electric Flash (GB)
1962
Crepello (GB)
1954
Lightning (GB)
1950
  • Marju is inbred 4 × 5 to Princequillo, meaning that this stallion appears once in the fourth generation of his pedigree and once in the fifth.
  • Marju is also inbred 5 × 5 to both Nearco and Hyperion, meaning that they both appear twice in the fifth generation of his pedigree.
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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Marju, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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