Superstar for Mastercraftsman

Tara Madgwick - Saturday July 14
Former Windsor Park shuttler Mastercraftsman (IRE) is no stranger to Group I success as a sire but may have soared to new heights with star filly Alpha Centauri, who posted her third consecutive win at the highest level overnight when winning the Group I Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket.

MastercraftsmanA brilliant winner of the Group I Irish Thousand Guineas and then the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, Alpha Centauri has been flying in recent months and the best may still be to come.

A homebred for the Niarchos family trained by Jessica Harrington, Alpha Centauri coasted home under Colm O'Donoghue to win the one mile contest by four and a half lengths in a dominant display taking her overall record to five wins and a second from eight starts.

"Alpha Centauri will probably go to Deauville next (Group I Prix Jacques Le Marois), to take on the colts, and I know the Niarchos family love the Breeders' Cup, so we have that option later in the year too, but either way the owners are keen to take on the colts now. She's just an amazing filly, she really is. She is so relaxed, stands there and has all the photographs taken and just goes away. I sometimes worry that she is almost too relaxed before races but that's just her," said Jessica Harrington.

Alpha Centauri is a half-sister to stakes-winner Tenth Star and is from Alpha Lupi, an unraced Rahy daughter of Champion French 3YO Filly East of the Moon, a half-sister to .Group I winner and champion sire Kingmambo from champion mare Miesque, who won the Breeders Cup Mile twice among her 10 Group I victories.

She is one of 50 stakes-winners for Danehill Dancer's dashing grey son Mastercraftsman, who remains on the Coolmore Ireland roster at a fee of 25,000 euros.

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