Masar marked himself as a major player for the English Classics with a dominant win in the Group 3 Craven Stakes on Thursday at Newmarket. Masar won the Craven by more than nine lengths after taking the early lead under William Buick, and among those left floundering in his wake was heavily favored Roaring Lion. Roaring Lion, making his season’s debut for trainer John Gosden, had been second choice for the Guineas behind Saxon Warrior coming into Thursday’s race, but English bookmakers put Masar in that spot on the strength of his Craven. Dictating tempo on the same straight course over which the Guineas will be contested, Masar was shaken up by Buick a quarter-mile from home and responded, pulling steadily clear as White Mocha rallied mildly to nip Roaring Lion for second. Racing over good ground, Masar was timed in 1:38.15. Trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin, Masar was coming off two throw-out races, the Al Bastakiya at Meydan, where he hated the kickback while making his dirt debut and was beaten more than 40 lengths, and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, a race in which Buick lost an iron at the head of the far turn, losing all chance to progress with Masar. Appleby downplayed the chances of Guineas regression following Thursday’s romp, and any further progress would surely make Masar a formidable foe for Saxon Warrior and Gustav Klimt, Aidan O’Brien’s two leading hopes for the Guineas. Masar, a homebred, is by New Approach and was produced by the Cape Cross mare Khawlah. It was the second day in a row that these connections found stakes success at Newmarket, where Soliloquy won the Group 3, seven-furlong Nell Gwyn Stakes for 3-year-old fillies by 1 ¾ lengths over Altyn Orda on Wednesday. Making her stakes debut in her 3-year-old bow, Soliloquy and Buick, like Masar on Thursday, found the front early and won comfortably. But Soliloquy, whose lone previous win came in a maiden race, would have to be supplemented into the English 1000 Guineas, a race toward which her stablemate Wild Illusion is being pointed. Soliloquy is by Dubawi and out of the Lonhro mare Dysphonia. More Classic trials Saturday at Newbury Expert Eye will attempt to start his 3-year-old campaign in a much better way than he ended his 2-year-old season when he races Saturday at Newbury in the Group 3 Greenham Stakes. Ryan Moore has the mount on Expert Eye for trainer Michael Stoute and owner-breeder Khalid Abdullah despite that fact that Moore is all but certain to pilot Mendelssohn in the Kentucky Derby on the same day as the English 2000 Guineas. That is the race in which Expert Eye could wind up, but only if he shows much more than he did in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes last October. After two easy wins to start his career Expert Eye was the odds-on Dewhurst favorite, but he never lifted a hoof during a race in which U S Navy Flag and Mendelssohn finished one-two, finishing ninth and exiting the Dewhurst lame. Apparently the vibe from the Stoute yard is favorable since Expert Eye is odds-on in antepost wagering to get back on track in the Greenham. One of his main rivals is James Garfield, a solid course winner of the Mill Reef Stakes last fall before failing to handle turns at Del Mar and checking in 10th in the BC Juvenile Turf. The race immediately preceding the Greenham is the Group 3 Fred Darling for 3-year-old fillies over a straight seven furlongs, a prep for the English 1000 Guineas. Gavota, with Moore riding for Khalid Abdullah and trainer Roger Charlton, could be the right one here if she picks up Saturday where she left off last fall. Gavota easily won her first two starts last year before finishing third in the Rockfel Stakes and second in the Oh So Sharp Stakes to finish her season. Blueblood wins debut in France A 3-year-old filly named Zarkamiya won her career debut in a one-mile maiden race Thursday at Longchamp. What’s consequential about that? Well, Zarkamiya is by the mighty Frankel and is the second foal to race produced by the great, undefeated Zarkava, who was unbeaten in a seven-start career spanning 2007 and 2008 that culminated with a victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Zarkava has gotten only one other foal to race, the high-class 5-year-old Zarak, who is by Dubawi, so there was much anticipation around Zarkamiya’s unveiling this week – so much so that she was an odds-on favorite facing eight foes. Ridden by Christophe Soumillon for trainer Alain de Royer-Dupré and her breeder, the Aga Khan, Zarkamiya did not disappoint, finishing smoothly mainly under her own willingness to win by one length over soft ground. Royer-Dupré did not specify an intended next start, but not to worry – this filly will be closely watched through the spring and summer.