Fastnet’s continued success

When Sherwood Forest proved too good for his contemporaries in the recent New Zealand Derby, it marked an important milestone in the career of his sire Fastnet Rock.

Sherwood Forest became the 38th Group 1 winner worldwide for Fastnet Rock, thus edging his sire one clear of Redoute’s Choice in the battle to become the most prolific international source of Group 1 winners by the great Danehill.

Moreover, it looks like an honour he’s unlikely to relinquish given that he has plenty of young stock in the pipeline, including 24 yearlings catalogued at Inglis Easter and is still serving plenty of mares in both hemispheres.

Fastnet Rock has always been one of the big four sons of Danehill – the four that have won premierships which also include Exceed And Excel and Flying Spur. And whilst it’s true that he’s trailing Redoute’s Choice in that particular race by three titles to two, he’s always enjoyed a slight advantage in the diversity of his offspring.

That advantage is epitomised by Sherwood Forest. He’s a Group 1 winner at 2400 metres as were Mosheen in the VRC Oaks, Unforgotten in the Australian Oaks and Qualify in the Epsom Oaks. In fact no fewer than 14 of Fastnet Rock’s 38 major winners have scored Group 1 victories over 2000 metres or further.

They feature perhaps his best ever runner – certainly his best daughter – in Atlantic Jewel, who won 10 of her 11 starts, including four at Group 1 level. Atlantic Jewel earned a Timeform rating of 128, the same mark as his best colt, the top-class sprinter Foxwedge, who was victorious in the G1 William Reed over 1200 metres.

Two more excellent sprinters rated 126 by Timeform are Merchant Navy, who scored an unusual 1200 metre Group 1 double winning Flemington’s Coolmore Stud S. and Royal Ascot’s Diamond Jubilee S., plus G1 Newmarket Handicap winner Wanted.

So, just like his brilliant sire Danehill, who produced Group 1 winners from 1200 metres to 3200 metres, Fastnet Rock can provide class at a variety of distances, something many other sires simply could not manage.

Versatility

His versatility as a sire is aptly summed up by his other star runner this season, the mare Avantage, who landed the 2000 metres G1 New Zealand S. recently, after netting Group 1 successes of 1200 metres and 1600 metres earlier in the season.

As things stand Fastnet Rock has sired 117 stakes winners from his Australian crops and another 38 from his Tipperary base. His 117 Southern Hemisphere stakes winners puts him in fifth place on the all-time leader board among Australian sires and he’s the most accomplished stallion in this regard standing in Australia today.

His 76 Australian-conceived Group winners have been produced at a rate of 5.7 per cent to runners, which is ahead of expectations, given the quality of mares he’s been bred to. Likewise, his 7.6 per cent of Group winners from elite mares is comfortably ahead of what they have achieved with other sires – a sure sign of a dominant stallion.

And just to underline the fact, we get the same picture using ratings – his 4.0 per cent horses rated 115 or higher and his 5.6 per cent from elite mares rated 115 or higher are well in advance of the corresponding scores for other stallions.

Gallery: Fastnet Rock standing at Coolmore Stud

All of the above should also be considered in the light of the fact that he’s by Danehill and therefore unable to access hundreds of stakes-winning mares carrying Danehill blood.

In the Northern Hemisphere 2020 will be Fastnet Rock’s 10th covering season – he didn’t shuttle in 2015. Numerically, he’s had a similar level of success, his 38 stakes winners comprising an excellent 9 per cent of his runners, compared to 8.8 per cent in Australia.

The big difference between the two sets of runners however is perhaps the absence of the same big names seen regularly among his Australian foals. Only G1 Champion S. winner Fascinating Rock (Ire), rated 127 by Timeform, makes his overall top 10 list by Timeform ratings.

It's also clear that Fastnet Rock – given the staying influences he’s been exposed to in Europe – has never had much prospect of siring the brilliant sprinter/miler types he’s come up with in Australia. But Europe’s stamina has suited him just fine. He’s formed a remarkable partnership with mares by Sadler’s Wells (USA) and his descendants, 13.6 per cent of them becoming stakes winners and 15.2 per cent of those from mares by sons of Sadler’s Wells graduating to stakes-winning class.

But his most fruitful partnership of all is with daughters of Galileo (Ire), whose 10 stakes winners by Fastnet Rock make up a remarkable 32.3 per cent of all runners bred on the cross. And four of his eight Group 1 winners are out of Galileo mares, including Epsom Oaks winner Qualify.

In Australia, he’s produced excellent numbers with mares by Giant’s Causeway (25% stakes winners), Galileo again (17.5%), Snippets (16.1%), Hennessy (15.8%), Woodman (15.2%), More Than Ready (USA) (14.3%), Stravinsky (13.2%), Zabeel (12.7%) and Peintre Celebre (12%).

Looking ahead, it’s difficult to know who will take the Fastnet Rock name forward. His sire sons Hinchinbrook, Smart Missile and Foxwedge have all had success at stud. Perhaps a so-far-unproven candidate, like Merchant Navy or Fascinating Rock in Europe, can go some way to matching their sire’s outstanding achievements.

Fastnet Rock's Group 1 winners