JUVENILE champion Bushranger (by Danetime) won the Group 1 Prix Morny and Group 1 Middle Park Stakes in 2008 and although he made a promising early start to his stallion career at Tally-Ho Stud it was not enough to keep him here and he moved to Turkey last year.

Now that he is no longer available locally he has been notching up the winners at an eye-catching rate and his double-digit tally so far in 2016 features listed success at Doncaster and a two-year-old double with Stringybark Creek at Kempton and The McGregornator at the Curragh, all last weekend.

Sire of last year’s pattern-placed duo Ridge Runner and Now Or Never, plus a multiple listed scorer in Australia, Bushranger finally got his first European stakes winner when Mobsta won the Listed Betway Cammidge Trophy, the colt’s third victory over six furlongs.

Bred by Peter Gleeson, the four-year-old represents his sire’s second crop, he was rated 100 before the race, and although on the upgrade he still has plenty of progress to make if he is to have a realistic chance of adding next month’s Group 2 Duke of York Clipper Logistics Stakes, a race for which he is available at around 50/1, at the time of writing.

That is not to say that pattern success is not in his future. Some sprinters do improve markedly as older horses.

Mobsta, who cost just 12,000gns at Newmarket as a yearling, is the third foal out of Sweet Nicole (by Okawango) and that makes him a half-brother to the four-times scorer Cincuenta Pasos (by Footstepsinthesand) and to Italian winner Mas Fuerte (by Kyllachy).

His dam was unplaced on her only start and his grandam was unraced, which might not sound encouraging, but the latter is Tatora (by Selkirk), dam of Tariq (by Kyllachy) and of his prolific full-brother Tariq Too.

The latter won six times at around seven furlongs, earning a handicap mark of 103, while Tariq, who hit a career high of 115, won the Group 2 Lennox Stakes, Group 3 Jersey Stakes and Listed King Charles II Stakes over that same trip.

CREACHADOIR

The chesnut was also a one-length third to Creachadoir in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury and he was beaten by less than two lengths when third to Hellvelyn in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes as a juvenile.

Their half-brother Ancient Astronaut made a winning debut over six furlongs at Ayr last May and was out of the frame in the £500,000 Tattersalls Million 2YO Trophy at Newmarket on his only other juvenile start, and that gelding was entered at Pontefract on Tuesday.

Tatora is out of the dual two-year-old winner Tatouma (by The Minstrel) and that makes her a half-sister to the dams of Hoh Hoh Hoh (by Piccolo) and Wi Dud (by Elnadim).

The former, a five-times sprint winner who achieved a peak handicap mark of 104, was placed in races such as the Group 3 Palace House Stakes, Listed City Walls Stakes and Listed Achilles Stakes.

Wi Dud, on the other hand, won the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes (run at York that year), was runner-up in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes, in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes and in Group 3 sprints at Goodwood, Sandown, the Curragh, and Newbury, he finished third in the Group 2 Temple Stakes, and was rated 116 at his peak.

Tatouma was out of the listed placed multiple US winner Sheer Fantasy (by Damascus) and that made her a half-sister to the pattern-placed middle-distance stakes winner Shine Share (by El Gran Senor) and also to two mares who produced blacktype winners.

Fantasy Cat (by Cougar), who won five times, was the dam of the Grade 3-placed multiple stakes winner and Oklahoma stallion Leave A Legacy (by Marquetry), who sired a couple of six-figured earners from limited opportunities.

The other mare of note is Ashshama (by Arctic Tern), the one-time scorer whose talented daughter Subya (by Night Shift), winner of the Lupe Stakes, Masaka Stakes and Milcars Star Stakes, went on to become a broodmare of note.

Her son Battle Of Hastings (by Royal Applause) was a winner at Newmarket and Doncaster before crossing the Atlantic where he won the Grade 2 Virginia Derby, the Grade 2 Colonial Turf Cup and a pair of Grade 3 contests and retired with earnings in excess of $1.36 million.

His Grade 1 performances featured the runner-up spot in the Hollywood Derby and third place in Frank E Kilroe Mile Handicap, and although fourth does not count as a blacktype placing, he filled that position in the Shadwell Turf Mile, in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, in the Pacific Classic Stakes and in the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap.

His half-sister Villa Carlotta (by Rainbow Quest) won the Listed Blue Wind Stakes over 10 furlongs at Cork and also a 12-furlong listed contest in Italy, and she is the dam of both the 10 and a half furlong Doncaster listed scorer Ceilidh House (by Selkirk) and the blacktype-placed hurdler Bothy (by Pivotal).

Her string of winners also includes the one-time scorer Villa Sonata (by Mozart) and it is she who is the dam of last year’s Group 3 Solario Stakes winner First Selection (by Diktat).

Mobsta was placed over seven furlongs last year and he is now a listed scorer over six, beating Suedois and Maarek. He seems to be improving, and although it remains to be seen if he will do as well as his ‘uncle’ Tariq, it would be no surprise to see him take at least one pattern race before the end of the year.