Marju (12 March 1988 – 11 October 2016) was a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse and

sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" an ...

Background

Marju was a dark bay or brown horse bred by Kilcarn Stud and owned by

Hamdan Al Maktoum Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum (, '; 25 December 1945 – 24 March 2021) was an Emirati politician, the deputy ruler of Dubai and the minister of finance and industry of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He was the second son of the late rule ...

. He was sired by Last Tycoon out of Flame of Tara. He was a half-brother to

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

winner Salsabil.

Racing career

Trained by John Dunlop, Marju raced 7 times during his career and was ridden by

Willie Carson William Fisher Hunter Carson, OBE (born 16 November 1942) is a retired jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. Life and career Best known as "Willie", Carson was born in Stirling, Scotland in 1942. He was apprenticed ...

each time. He won 3 races including the

Craven Stakes The Craven Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 met ...

and the

St. James's Palace Stakes The St James's Palace Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old Colt (horse), colts. It is run at Ascot Racecourse, Ascot ...

, as well as finishing second to

Generous Generous is an adjective form of generosity. Generous may also refer to: * Generous (horse) Generous (8 February 1988 – 15 January 2013) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1991 won both the Epsom and the Irish ...

in the

1991 Epsom Derby {, class="collapsible collapsed" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="clear:right; float:right; text-align:center; font-weight:bold;" width="280px" ! colspan="3" style="border:1px solid black; background-color: #77DD77;" , Also Ran T ...

. He won a total prize money of £282,640.

Stud record

Retired to

stud Stud may refer to: Animals * Stud (animal), an animal retained for breeding ** Stud farm, a property where livestock are bred Arts and entertainment * Stud (band), a British progressive rock group * The Stud (bar), a gay bar in San Francisco * ...

duty at Derrinstown Stud, Ireland in 1992, Marju was shuttled to New Zealand in 2000 and to Australia in 2001-02, and pensioned at Derrinstown Stud, Ireland in 2011. He sired a number of stakes winners, including

Soviet Song Soviet Song (18 February 2000 – 16 November 2015) was a racehorse bred and owned by Elite Racing Club. She was foaled on 18 February 2000, sired by Marju (IRE) out of Kalinka (IRE) (Soviet Star). She raced in England, Ireland and France dur ...

, My Emma,

Sil Sila Sil Sila (18 February 1993 – after 2014) was an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was not highly regarded as a two-year-old in 1995 but won both of her races at long odds including the Listed Radley St ...

Satono Crown Satono Crown (, foaled 10 March 2012) is a Japanese retired Thoroughbred racehorse and breeding stallion. He showed promising form as a two-year-old in 2014, winning both of his races including the Grade 3 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes. As a th ...

Viva Pataca Viva Pataca () (foaled 7 May 2002) is a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse, who achieved his greatest success when trained in Hong Kong. Background Bred by the Dukes of Devonshire and Roxburghe, he was out of the mare Comic and sired by En ...

and

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

. He is the grandsire of

Ramonti Ramonti (28 March 2002 – 16 July 2019) is a retired French-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. He was originally trained in Italy, where he won eight races at the ages of three and four including the Group One Premio Vittorio di Capua ...

and

Not So Sleepy Not So Sleepy (foaled 18 April 2012) is a retired British Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt and flat races. In 2019 and 2020 he won the Grade 3 Betfair Exchange Trophy Handicap Hurdle and in 2021 he tied with Epatante in a d ...

. Marju died of natural causes at his owner's Derrinstown Stud in Ireland on 11 October 2016. After his death, the last crop Japanese horse

brought him honor by winning the Hong Kong Vase.

References

{{reflist 1988 racehorse births 2016 racehorse deaths Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Racehorses bred in Ireland Thoroughbred family 2-f