Fastnet Rock retired from stallion duties
Two-time champion sire Fastnet Rock (Danehill), one of the most influential stallions of modern times, has been retired from stud duties, Coolmore Australia announced on Friday.
The son of Danehill (Danzig) was retired to Coolmore’s Australia base in 2005 after a successful career on the track under the tutelage of Paul Perry, for whom he won six starts headed by victories in the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) and Lightning Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m), leading him to be crowned the Champion Three-Year-Old Sprinter of 2004/05.
Introduced to the market at a fee of $55,000 (all fees inc GST), Fastnet Rock’s fee rose to $275,000 in 2013, his highest advertised fee, having crowned champion sire in the 2011/12. He then stood for a private fee between 2014 and 2018.
His global reach was secured when he began shuttling to Coolmore’s Irish base in 2010, a journey he would undertake for the next 11 seasons, standing his final year in Europe in 2021.
While his feats on the race track were impressive, they were quickly eclipsed by his ability in the breeding shed and his numbers make for impressive reading.
To date in the southern hemisphere, Fastnet Rock’s 1107 winners are headed by 138 stakes scorers, led by 34 Group 1 winners, including two Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winners in the shape of Nechita in 2012 and Merchant Navy in 2017.
Globally, he is responsible for 193 stakes winners, headlined by 43 Group 1 winners, including dual hemisphere top-flight winner Via Sistina and the aforementioned Merchant Navy, who followed up his Coolmore Stud Stakes success with a triumph in the prestigious Diamond Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) at Royal Ascot.
While able to sire top-class horses of either sex, he will perhaps be best remembered for his ability to produce top-class fillies with 86 of his total number of stakes winners being female and featured among them are household names such as a Atlantic Jewel, Sea Siren, Catchy, winner of the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), Irish Lights, Avantage and Unforgotten to name a small few.
“Fastnet Rock has been a once-in-a-lifetime horse, and we are immensely grateful for the incredible journey he has taken us on. I hope he will enjoy a long and happy retirement here at Jerrys Plains,” said Coolmore’s Tom Magnier.
While he may be retired from covering duties, his legacy will live on through his runners on the track, his active sire sons including fellow Coolmore-based sire Acrobat and also his exploits as a broodmare sire.
His daughters have produced 113 stakes winners in total and these numbers are spearheaded by 12 Group 1 winners including three-time elite-level winning filly Zougotcha (Zoustar) and northern hemisphere-bred Warm Heart (Galileo), winner of the last season’s Yorkshire Oaks (Gr 1, 1m 4f) and Prix Vermeille (Gr 1, 2400m) and this season’s Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Lady Of Camelot (Written Tycoon).
Such is the season he is having so far in Australia, Fastnet Rock is currently in pole position to land his first Australian Champion Broodmare Sire title, sitting over $5 million ahead of his closest rival, former barnmate Encosta De Lago (Fairy King).
Over the years, Coolmore has reaped the benefits of his ability to match well with Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) blood. Fastnet Rock over Galileo mares has produced 29 stakes winners, including ten Group 1 winners, while on the other side of the coin when Galileo was mated to his daughters the potency was also strong, with the cross having generated eight stakes winners headed by two top-flight winners.
“His son Acrobat was the fastest two-year-old ever at Randwick over 1000 metres and if his first foals are anything to go by, we’ll be hearing a lot more about him in the future.
“His legacy will endure for generations to come, and we look forward to seeing his influence continue to shape the future of the sport,” Magnier said.