Magic Lily looks another classy juvenile for New Approach

There is a certain amount of pressure on New Approach to produce the goods with his juveniles this year, as it was the first of two crops bred at an £80,000 fee in the aftermath of his first three-year-olds yielding Classic winners Dawn Approach and Talent and Derby runner-up Libertarian.

The young Dalham Hall Stud sire is living up to expectations, as although he has not supplied many two-year-old winners this year, the ones who have scored have been well above average.

Masar, a colt out of UAE Derby and Oaks winner Khawlah, took the Solario Stakes by two lengths; Hey Gaman, a son of the Group 2-placed Dubawi mare Arsaadi, has won the Denford Stakes and been beaten just a neck into second in the Champagne Stakes; Cascadian, a colt out of the UAE Oaks winner Falls Of Lora, finished second in the Listed Prix Francois Boutin; and New Show, a colt out of Falmouth Stakes winner Music Show, won comfortably on debut at Ayr in July.

The fifth two-year-old winner of the year for New Approach arrived at Newmarket on Saturday and Magic Lily looks another top-notcher with a brilliant pedigree, as she strolled to an eight-length victory on her first start in a mile novice stakes for fillies.

Magic Lily is trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin and although jockey James Doyle reported the easy win as a “nice surprise as she's worked nicely but nothing like that”, she now surely warrants a step up into stakes company.

The filly has the pedigree to compete in top-class contests as she belongs to an exclusive club of offspring whose parents are both Epsom Classic winners. The likes of Lammtarra (by Nijinksy out of Snow Bride), Australia (by Galileo out of Ouija Board) and Ulysses (by Galileo out of Light Shift) are other recent members.

New Approach landed the Derby after earning champion two-year-old honours and being touched off in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Curragh. He went on to win the Irish and British versions of the Champion Stakes.

Magic Lily is the result of him being sent Dancing Rain, who scored in the Oaks as well as the German Oaks and the inaugural running of the British Champions Fillies' and Mares' Stakes at Ascot, then Group 2.

Dancing Rain is a Danehill Dancer three-parts sister to Sumora, the Listed-winning dam of champion two-year-old filly Maybe. She is also out of an Indian Ridge three-parts sister to another Derby winner in Dr Devious.

Former Godolphin chief executive John Ferguson made a winning bid of 4,000,000gns for Dancing Rain when she was offered at the Tattersalls December Breeding-Stock Sale in 2013, in foal to Frankel.

Rainswept, the three-year-old Frankel filly being carried by Dancing Rain at the time of her sale, has not yet run. The mare also has a yearling colt by New Approach and a filly foal by Dubawi born March 5, and she was covered by Dubawi again this season.

New Approach's fee has been on the wane since the bright start he made with his early representatives, as the flow of top-class runners slowed significantly.

But his expensively bred crop of two-year-olds is helping put his name back up in lights – as it should – and those breeders who used him at a fee of £30,000 this year, cut in half from 2016, may just have bagged themselves a bargain.

From earlier in the year...

Exciting juveniles hint at better times ahead for New Approach