His four blacktype winners were also more than any other first season sire could achieve and they included the brilliant Group 1 Racing Post Trophy hero Kingston Hill, successful also in the Group 3 Autumn Stakes at Newmarket and one of the leading contenders for this year’s classics. He was rated the second best two-year-old in Europe in the World Rankings. Two more group scorers for Mastercraftsman were Amazing Maria in the Prestige Stakes at Goodwood and Craftsman in the Killavullan Stakes at Leopardstown, while Pablosky won a listed race in Rome; all three of these are out of mares by sons of Storm Cat. Three others by Mastercraftsman were placed second or third in group races.

Mastercraftsman had been officially assessed as the champion European two-year-old of 2008, after winning four of his five starts including two Group 1 events, the same double that his sire Danehill Dancer had also achieved in 1995.