Blue Rocket (AUS)
2 f Blue Point – Catherine Wheel by Rogano
O: Oakland Park Stud (Mgr: N G Duncan), J Maas, Mrs J C Maas & Hamlin Bay Thoroughbreds (Mgr: S Litton)
B: Oakland Park Stud
T: Daniel and Ben Pearce
W: National Pump And Energy Plate, 1000m, February 24, Ascot
The Daniel and Ben Pearce-trained Blue Rocket (2 f ex Catherine Wheel by Rogano) got her career off to the perfect start when she broke her maiden over 1000 metres at Ascot and now looks set for bigger goals in the future.
The two-year-old filly showed blistering speed to lead all the way, eventually defeating This’ll Show Ya (Showtime) by a little under two lengths, while Siren Assault (Rich Enuff) was a further three-quarters of a length away in third.
Bred and co-owned by Oakland Park Stud, Blue Rocket is out of three-time winner Catherine Wheel (Rogano), herself a sister to stakes-placed gelding In Love With Paris.
Stakes company could now beckon for Blue Rocket, with the filly featuring among 81 early nominations for the $500,000 Karrakatta Plate (Gr 2, 1200m), Perth’s richest race for two-year-olds, which will be held at Ascot on April 20.
In winning last weekend, Blue Rocket became the first southern hemisphere-bred winner for Darley Stud’s first-season shuttler Blue Point (Shamardal).
Blue Point took everything before him in his first season with runners in the northern hemisphere and his winners included Group 1 victors Big Evs and Rosallion, prompting the stallion to have his fee in Europe raised from €35,000 to €60,000 (approx. AU$99,200) for the current northern hemisphere breeding season.
The sire of 59 winners globally, Blue Point has 16 lots set to go through the ring at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale which gets underway in Melbourne on Sunday.