The Masaka Stakes began in 1971 as a seven-furlong race on Kempton’s round course, but for most of its existence the distance was a mile on the dog-leg Jubilee course. In 2006 it moved to the all-weather track. Though in theory it was a 1,000 Guineas trial, it was probably one of the easier Listed contests for three-year-old fillies to go for; not many with classic pretensions would be fully wound up by Easter. One brilliant exception was Time Charter in 1982; she made all the running to score by five lengths. The £4,651 prize was a decent one then. Two months later she won the Oaks. Her trainer Henry Candy was still sending out runners in 2024, his 51st year as a trainer.
Masaka was a filly owned and bred by the Aga Khan, by the unbeaten Nearco (one of the top stallions) out of a dual Irish classic mare sired by Mahmoud. Nearcos could be temperamental, and Masaka certainly was. Her two-year-old career began wonderfully well, winning her maiden, and then the Queen Mary against fillies and the July Stakes against colts. Next year (1948) she won Kempton’s 1,000 Guineas Trial and was promptly made favourite for the fillies’ classic. At Newmarket Masaka refused to race until the field left her well behind, and inevitably finished unplaced. On Oaks day she was on her best behaviour and won by six lengths. Sent to Ascot for the Coronation Stakes, she repeated her Guineas antics. The Aga Khan removed Masaka from trainer Frank Butters and sent her to Hubert Hartigan in Ireland. Impossibly inconsistent, she won the Irish Oaks easily to justify the optimism of those who backed her down to evens. Her form figures were now 11134-10101. That was enough; the paddocks beckoned.
Masaka is also a city in Uganda.
Trials for the Guineas on an all-weather track were of limited value as preparation for running on the straight mile on turf on the wide open spaces of Newmarket. The Masaka name disappeared after 2008.