Seven days in … breeding – Fastnet’s place in a golden era

In this edition:

• Farewell to Fastnet Rock – Champion Coolmore sire dies aged 24
• Toronado withdrawn from service
• Rowe On Monday – Rosberg ‘a win for everyone’, Wootton Bassett’s select book, US a new source for HK
• Run The Numbers – History repeats in Moir for Group 1-producing mares
• Randwick one day, Kentucky the next – Widdup takes flight to Keeneland with Mulberry’s backing
• Home Affairs leads numbers of named juveniles

It doesn’t always pan out but breeders backed the right horse from the outset when Fastnet Rock retired to Coolmore in 2005 in what turned out to be a golden era for sire sons of Danehill.

Retiring after a tilt at Royal Ascot was aborted due to a bout of travel sickness, Fastnet Rock joined Exceed And Excel,  Redoute’s Choice and Flying Spur at stud.

The four sons of Danehill won seven champion Australian sire premierships between them, leaving a lasting legacy on the international Stud Book as sires and broodmare sires.

Fastnet Rock was sadly euthanised on Monday at Coolmore at the age of 24, living out his days in the Hunter Valley having helped the Magnier family cement its Australian operation as a dominant force in the southern hemisphere.

Fastnet Rock covered more than 200 mares in his first season and hit the double century eight times in total across his 19 seasons at stud, underlying his champion stallion status and commercial success story.

And Fastnet Rock might not be done yet, with the prospect of adding to his record-breaking 44 individual Group 1 winners.

The European-bred Via Sistina could add to her 10 Group 1s as soon as Saturday’s Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington while On Display, who is from Fastnet Rock’s third last crop, is entered for two stakes races at the same meeting.

She is being aimed at the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington on Victoria Derby day.

Fastnet Rock has 11 two-year-olds as well as four yearlings.

In Victoria, Swettenham Stud was dealt a blow to start the breeding season after an untimely injury to its banner stallion Toronado, an issue that will see him sidelined for the season.

Toronado isn’t the first stallion to sit out a season. Only last year, Arrowfield was forced to rest The Autumn Sun due to a pelvis injury. Street Boss missed what would have been his second southern hemisphere season, and his own sire, Street Cry, didn’t travel to Australia for two years in 2007 and 2008.

He returned in 2009 and thankfully he did, siring the incomparable Winx in his second shuttle season back at Darley in 2010, the same year Street Boss was off southern hemisphere duties.

He, of course, is the sire of Anamoe, Godolphin’s most successful racehorse, winning nine Group 1s for trainer James Cummings and is now in his third season as a high-profile sire at Darley Kelvinside.

Deep Field, another stallion whose days in the breeding shed are over due to infertility issues, continues to make his mark not only in Australia but internationally as well.

On Saturday, his three-year-old son Rosberg, from the second last crop of the Newgate stallion, lived up to the hype placed on him by his trainer Clinton McDonald by winning the Listed McKenzie Stakes on debut.

Stay Cosmic and Bacash ran second and third respectively for Deep Field’s son Cosmic Force, also the sire of this season’s San Domenico winner Raging Force.

The Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes is Rosberg’s ultimate spring goal and if he reaches those lofty heights, he’ll find a home at a prominent stud just as Farnan, Anders and Prague have.

The connection? They were all purchased by Shane McGrath, the man who identified Rosberg as a yearling and stayed in the colt when McDonald bought him at last year’s Inglis Ready2Race Sale for $750,000.

McGrath reflects on the Rosberg journey in this week’s Rowe On Monday.

For good measure, Deep Field sprinter Self Improvement caused an upset in the Group 3 Korea Cup in Seoul on Sunday for Hong Kong trainer Manfred Man.

Snitzel is no longer with us, but at Moonee Valley on Saturday his son Baraqiel landed the Group 1 Moir Stakes, a testament to the perseverance of trainers Leon and Troy Corstens and Will Larkin who nursed him back from multiple career-threatening injuries.

But Snitzel can’t claim all the credit for Baraqiel’s talent with his dam Angel Of Mercy now the producer of two Group 1 winners.

Keeneland, the world’s biggest yearling sale, is underway in Kentucky and Hawkesbury trainer Brad Widdup is on the ground in Lexington for Mulberry Racing, The pair was on the board early with the purchase of a Quality Road colt out of Lady Aurelia for US$550,000.

On the home front back in Australia, Coolmore’s first crop sire Home Affairs could be well-placed to leave any early impression if the number of his two-year-olds with names is any guide.

Enjoy your racing week,

Regards

Tim Rowe

Senior Journalist

The Straight