Group 3 sprinter Maschino has been retired by owner Jim Anderson to stand at Alwyn Park.

He will cover an initial book alongside Trade Fair (GB) at John Andrew’s Serpentine stud this year.

Maschino (5h Encosta De Lago – Tahni Girl by Redoute’s Choice) bows out after injuring a tendon in the LR Grandstand Cup at Ascot.  He won 7 races in a 22 start career highlighted by a G3 victory in the R J Peters Stakes (1500m) last November.

Renowned for his explosive finishes, Maschino won the Peters Stakes after close up placings in the LR Northerly Stakes and G3 Asian Beau Stakes.

“It’s always disappointing to lose a quality galloper,” trainer Graham Yuill Yuill said after the Grandstand Cup.  “We never got to see the best of Maschino and I was confident this was going to be his breakthrough campaign.”

Leading bloodstock agent Michael Flannery purchased Maschino on behalf of Anderson for $240,000 at the 2009 Inglis Easter yearling sale.  He is by Australian champion Encosta de Lago and the sireline is on fire this season with leading freshman Northern Meteor (Widden) while Manhattan Rain (Arrowfield) and Von Costa de Hero (Darley) are waiting in the wings with their first runners in 2013-14.

Maschino’s bottom line isn’t short on black-type, either.  His dam Tahni Girl was a stakes winner at Caulfield and Flemington (twice) and she is a three-quarter sister to leading Queensland stallion Hidden Dragon.

Tahni Girl’s only other foal to race is black-type sprinter Dee Bee Nine (Red Ransom).  The mare’s rising two year-old is a Sebring filly that was purchased by Perth owner Kim Loxton for $300,000 at the 2013 Inglis Easter Sale.

– Karl Patterson