2020: three-year-old season Starman did not race as a two-year-old and was unable to appear on the track in the spring of 2020 as British horse racing was shut down owing the
COVID-19 pandemic. He made a belated debut in a six
furlong maiden race on the synthetic
Polytrack surface at
Lingfield Park on 12 July. Starting at odds of
9/2 he took the lead soon after the start and held off a late challenge from the favourite Fresh to win by a neck. At
Doncaster Racecourse the following month the colt started third choice in the betting for a novice race (for horses with no more than two previous wins) over the same distance on turf and won again as he gained the advantage a furlong from the finish and came home two and a half
lengths clear of the
Queen's colt King's Lynn. Starman was then stepped up in class and matched against older sprinters in the
Listed Garrowby Stakes at
York Racecourse on 6 September and started 7/2 second favourite behind the six-year-old
gelding Dakota Gold who had won the race in 2019. After a slow start Starman settled towards the rear of the nine-runner field before beginning to make progress just after half way. He took the lead inside the final furlong and kept on well to win by one and three quarter lengths from Dakota Gold. After the race Ed Walker said "He was awesome today - he's a really exciting horse. It was a big step up for him. Just the tempo these guys go is totally different to what you'd get in a novice race. Against these six and seven-year-old sprinters, for him to produce a performance like that is huge credit to the horse." He added however, that the horse would have been better suited by
firmer ground. For his final run of the year, Starman was moved up to
Group 1 class for the
British Champions Sprint Stakes over six furlongs at Ascot on 17 October. He was never going well on the soft ground and sustained his first defeat as he came home fourteenth of the sixteen runners behind
Glen Shiel, beaten seventeen lengths by the winner.
2021: four-year-old season On 12 May at York Starman began his second campaign in the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes over six furlongs and went off the 5/1 third choice in the betting behind
Oxted and the
Lacken Stakes winner Art Power. He was ridden by
Oisin Murphy as Marquand took the mount on the
Ayr Gold Cup winner Nahaarr. After racing in mid-division he took the lead a furlong out and repelled the challenge of the Nahaarr to win by a neck, with a gap of three and a half lengths back to Oxted in third place. Murphy commented "He's a lovely horse. I'd ridden him a little bit at home and Ed always had a very high opinion of him. He looked really good today, he travelled and he was very chilled out. He's a very exciting horse for the year." The colt was aimed at the
Diamond Jubilee Stakes but bypassed the race on account of the prevailing soft ground. Walker, who was winning his first race at the highest level said "he wasn't concentrating before the race. If you'd caught me then I'd have been very doom and gloom. Then it wasn't happening in the race. I was feeling sorry for myself at the three pole thinking it's more bad luck in a big race, but Tom was great and didn't panic and as soon as he hit the rising ground at the one-and-a-half-furlong pole he just found and found and found." On 8 August Starman was sent to France and started 1.8/1 joint favourite for the Group 1
Prix Maurice de Gheest over 1300 metres on soft ground at
Deauville Racecourse. He raced just behind the leaders before taking the lead 300 metres from the finish and came home third behind
Marianafoot and Tropbeau, beaten one and three quarter lengths by the winner. On his next appearance the colt starts favourite for the
Haydock Sprint Cup on 4 September but despite producing a strong late run he "just failed" to overhaul the five-year-old gelding
Emaraaty Ana and was beaten a short head into second place. Starman was being prepared for the
British Champions Sprint Stakes when he sustained a minor injury in training and was retired from racing. Ed Walker commented "It's a huge shame as we were really looking forward to Saturday and hoping he could prove himself a real champion. I've always thought he was the best around and he's certainly the best I've trained." On 10 November Starman was named
Champion Sprinter at the
Cartier Racing Awards. ==Racing career==