Fastnet Rock – The Group 1 machine
After notching up his 43rd Group 1 winner over the weekend, we look at the extraordinary record of Fastnet Rock when it comes to producing elite horses.
Of the 52 sons of the great Danehill (Danzig) to have gone to stud and produce a Group 1 winner, none has had as many elite stars as Coolmore’s Fastnet Rock.
On Saturday in the Pretty Polly Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f) at the Curragh, Via Sistina became Fastnet Rock’s 43rd Group 1 winner, adding further to his amazing record ahead of his 19th season at Jerrys Plains in the Hunter Valley in 2023.
That result puts him four in front of Redoute’s Choice in terms of Group 1-producing sons of Danehill, who himself sired 84 Group 1 winners. Fastnet Rock not only leads sons of Danehill in that regard, but all descendants of the legendary sire.
In fact, he has more Group 1 winners than any Australian-bred sire in history and he trails only Zabeel (Sir Tristram) (47) in terms of elite producers bred in Australasia.
Sons of Danehill ranked by number of Group 1/Grade 1 winners
| Stallion | G1w | SW | Winners |
| Fastnet Rock | 43 | 192 | 1507 |
| Redoute’s Choice | 39 | 182 | 1211 |
| Dansili | 23 | 153 | 909 |
| Danehill Dancer | 22 | 173 | 1422 |
| Catcher in the Rye | 20 | 51 | 844 |
| Exceed and Excel | 18 | 210 | 1761 |
| Rock of Gibraltar | 16 | 140 | 1420 |
| Holy Roman Emperor | 14 | 98 | 1154 |
| Flying Spur | 13 | 99 | 1026 |
| Commands | 13 | 80 | 973 |
He rightly sits among the greatest Australian stallions, with a global influence like no other having been champion sire in Australia (twice), Hong Kong, Macau and Bahrain.
Via Sistina became Fastnet Rock’s tenth Group 1 winner from his nine northern hemisphere crops, the most of any reverse shuttler and four more than his Darley contemporary Exceed And Excel (Danehill).
Six of those ten northern hemisphere-bred Group 1 winners have been out of Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) mares, a successful nick which has produced 28 stakes winners at a rate of 19 per cent stakes-winners-to-runners.
His daughters feature particularly heavily among his best northern hemisphere-bred elite performers with Via Sistina the eighth, a filly dominance which seems specific to his crops bred from Ireland. In comparison, his southern hemisphere-bred Group 1 winners feature 18 sons and 15 daughters.
Fastnet Rock progeny record by sex:
| Sex | G1w | SW | Winners |
| Colts/Geldings | 20 | 106 | 814 |
| Fillies/mares | 23 | 86 | 688 |
While the perception may be that Fastnet Rock has benefited from the close association between Coolmore and Europe’s leading trainer Aidan O’Brien, only two of those ten northern hemisphere-bred Group 1 winners have been from O’Brien’s Ballydoyle stables.
Two have been trained to Group 1 glory by Dermot Weld, another two by William Haggas, and individuals by Christophe Clement, Tony Martin, Joseph O’Brien and Via Sistina’s trainer George Boughey.
All in all, Fastnet Rock has had 51 stakes winners from those northern hemisphere progeny, which puts him second only to Exceed And Excel (92) when it comes to Australian sires on that side of the equator.
The constant comparison with Exceed And Excel seems inevitable as their careers have run largely in parallel. Foaled just over 12 months apart, they both contested the Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) as two-year-olds before following near identical paths through their early three-year-old seasons in 2003 and 2004 respectively.
Both would be beaten in the San Domenico Stakes (Gr 2, 1000m), and then win both the Up And Coming Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) and the Roman Consul Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m). Both would find the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) beyond them and then return to contest open feature sprints in the autumn.
Exceed And Excel would win the Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m), while a year later Fastnet Rock won the Lightning Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) and the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m), but he found Alinghi (Encosta De Lago) too good in the Newmarket.
Both would be set for Royal Ascot at the end of their three-year-old seasons but fail to make an appearance. Both sons of Danehill would then head to stud with respective global giants Darley and Coolmore.
The statistical analysis of their stallion careers sees Exceed And Excel producing more overall winners (1761 to 1507) and stakes winners (210 to 192), but Fastnet Rock comfortably leading the way when it comes to Group 1 winners (43 to 18).
Exceed And Excel, who has had an extraordinary 35 seasons at stud across both hemispheres, has more runners (2458 to 2115) than Fastnet Rock, who didn’t shuttle to Ireland until 2010, and who has completed 27 stud seasons.
Where Exceed And Excel has a clear advantage over Fastnet Rock has been with his two-year-olds, from which he has sourced 87 stakes winners, including eight Group 1 winners. Fastnet Rock, meanwhile, has had 41 stakes-winning juveniles, seven of them at Group 1 level.
In terms of two-year-old-winners-to-runners, Exceed And Excel leads the way on 35.27 per cent to Fastnet Rock’s 27.16 per cent, as well as in stakes-winners-to-runners, 5.34 per cent to 4.60 per cent.
The script flips once their progeny reach three years old, however, with Fastnet Rock having 26 individual three-year-old Group 1 winners compared to Exceed and Excel’s eight. He also leads 110 to 79 when it comes to stakes-winning three-year-olds.
When they get beyond their classic year, we see Fastnet’s best progeny remains in the ascendancy with 14 Group 1 winners to Exceed’s seven, however that flips again when it comes to stakes winners, which Exceed leads 93-89.
| Two year olds | Three year olds | Four year old-plus | |||||||
| Stallion | G1w | SW | Winners | G1w | SW | Winners | G1w | SW | Winners |
| Fastnet Rock | 7 | 41 | 242 | 26 | 110 | 1020 | 14 | 89 | 884 |
| Exceed And Excel | 8 | 87 | 575 | 8 | 79 | 1057 | 7 | 93 | 1041 |
Comparing their progeny records by sex sees a close correlation between them. Exceed And Excel’s stakes winners are split, percentage-wise, 56-44 male/female (118-92), while Fastnet Rock’s sons lead the way in that regard 55-45 (106-86).
When it comes to Group 1 winners, Fastnet’s daughters lead the way 23-20, while Exceed’s sons are more dominant 11-7.
Charting their ongoing influence through the breeding records of their progeny also provides an interesting comparison. Fastnet Rock has had 33 of his sons who went to stud have runners and between them they have produced 32 stakes winners, of which there are 17 Group 1 winners.
Exceed And Excel has had 30 sons who have had progeny hit the track and their collective record is 14 stakes winners and seven Group 1 winners.
Group 1-producing sire sons of Fastnet Rock and Exceed And Excel
| Fastnet Rock | Exceed And Excel |
| Foxwedge | Helmet |
| Hinchinbrook | Excelebration |
| El Roca | Outstrip |
| Smart Missile | Bungle Inthejungle |
| Wanted | Cotai Glory |
| Rothesay | Sidestep |
| Merchant Navy | Kuroshio |
| Atlante | |
| Stryker | |
| Your Song |
Their respective records as broodmare sires are building by the day. Fastnet Rock’s daughters have produced 91 stakes winners, among them eight Group 1 winners, while amongst the progeny of the daughters of Exceed And Excel are 12 Group 1 winners from 83 stakes winners.
Both are set for a best finish yet on the Australian broodmare sire tables, with Exceed And Excel currently third and Fastnet Rock fourth, trailing behind the two stallions which have dominated that table for the past five years, Redoute’s Choice and Encosta De Lago (Fairy King).
It would be appropriate for the Fastnet-Exceed battle to succeed the Redoute’s-Encosta rivalry in that broodmare sire aspect in the coming years. When Exceed won his Australian sires’ title in 2012/13, it was Fastnet Rock in second. In 2014/15, when Fastnet was champion sire for the second time, it was at the expense of Exceed And Excel.
Comparison between sires of such a high calibre can often serve to highlight their respective achievements, not diminish one at the benefit of another. Both Fastnet Rock and Exceed And Excel have been generationally significant influences, building remarkable success across the globe, and both deserve considerable appreciation in the twilight of their stallion careers.