If the Australian market demands speed and precocity then Murtajill certainly fulfills both criteria for breeders and buyers. The handsome grey possesses both in bucket loads. The winner of the time-honoured Breeders’ Plate (Listed, 1000m) on debut, Murtajill went on to win the Skyline Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) by three lengths and in a race-record time of 1:09.63.

Placed in the Group 1 All-Aged Stakes (1600m) and Doomben 10,000 (1350m) as an older horse, together with fourth place finishes in the Golden Slipper Stakes, Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes and AJC Sires produce Stakes (all at the highest level), amply illustrate the huge talent Murtajill possessed.

Rated Joint-second on the 2006/7 Australian 2yo Classification, Murtajill trained on to be one of the best of his generation at three and retired to Patinack Farm with earnings of $646,375.

That Murtajill was such a good racehorse should come as no surprise when looking at his pedigree. By Danehill’s World Champion Miler son, Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire) and out of the Group 1 winner Skating, herself a daughter of International Group 1 winner At Talaq (USA), breeding does not get much better.

The stallion credentials are reinforced by Murtajill being a three-quarter brother to the stakes winner Bradbury’s Luck (Redoute’s Choice), who has sired a Group 1 winner already from two crops to race.

A $660,000 weanling, Murtajill’s impressive physique has clearly made an impression on breeders who supported him strongly in his first-season at stud. And it is clear that his size and scope is present in many of his first-crop offspring.