Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Within a day of Yarraman Park Stud announcing its stallion fees for the upcoming spring, its young resident Hellbent banked his fourth winner in the shape of Luna Rocks, who was a runaway winner of the 2-year-old feature at a rain-soaked Warwick Farm.
The filly, who was also the first winner for the new father-son partnership of Richard and Will Freedman, clattered away on a Heavy 10 in what was just her second start.
Luna Rocks jumped from barrier seven, and she was very slick to snatch an early lead from Shaquila (Shalaa {Ire}) and Silentsar (Russian Revolution). She didn’t concede her lead for the entirety of the race, showing very good dash turning for home.
She found firm footing wide and drew right away with jockey Keagan Latham, winning her race by 3.09l to the Newgate gelding Ringmaster (Zoustar).
Silentsar was third by 4.54l, with the final time for the 1100 metres at 1:07.85, the last 600 metres in 36.33s.
Handling conditions
Luna Rocks is owned by the NSW Tycoons, which is the state arm of the syndicate group The Racing League. Earlier in the day, the Victorian arm, the Victorian Husslers, had a win in the juvenile feature at Sale with Lethal Thoughts (So You Think {NZ}).
Lethal Thoughts after winning at Sale
“It’s a fantastic concept”, said co-trainer Richard Freedman. “The people that have come here today have really got into it. They all came down to watch her saddle up and they’re having a ball. That’s what racing’s all about, people enjoying it.”
Luna Rocks had plenty of her ownership group trackside at Warwick Farm, and Freedman confirmed they had a good filly on their hands.
“They do have a nice filly,” he said. “She’s got some talent but she’s a bit wayward, a bit green. She’s got to learn a lot, but she’s got a lot of natural speed.”
Keagan Latham provides Richard Freedman with feedback after winning on Luna Rocks at Warwick Farm | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Luna Rocks had run second at Newcastle on March 31. As with Wednesday, the track was a Heavy 10 that day and she went down by just the narrowest of finishes after running off the track. Freedman said that day’s experience had done her well this week.
“She’d had a run on that ground before,” he said. “A lot of those other horses hadn’t had a run on that sort of ground, and I think that helped her.
“I don’t know how many more runs I’d like to give her this time in. She’s very light and she’s going to be a lovely 3-year-old. She will mature into a nice horse, so we’ll be patient. There’s maybe one more in her before she goes to the paddock.”
“She’s (Luna Rocks) very light and she’s going to be a lovely 3-year-old. She will mature into a nice horse, so we’ll be patient. There’s maybe one more in her before she goes to the paddock.” - Richard Freedman
Jockey Keagan Latham had plenty of positive feedback about the filly post-race. He’d ridden Luna Rocks in her Newcastle debut, so he had the edge when it came to getting her over the surface.
“She came out of that race great,” Latham said. “She’s quite a racy little thing at home, all she wants to do is please you.
“As you could see today, she’s got natural speed. Even with the track as Heavy as it is, she’s gone through it today and I think she’ll be even better when the tracks get a bit quicker.”
Luna Rocks after winning at Warwick Farm | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Hannon time
Luna Rocks was bought by The Racing League at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. She cost $360,000 from the draft of Tyreel Stud.
She is a half-sister to the dual Group 3 winner Shaquero (Shalaa {Ire}), who also won the $2 million R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic in 2021.
At the time of Shaquero’s rich win at the Magic Millions carnival, Luna Rocks was selling as a yearling. For her breeder, the Ascot Park studmaster Bob Hannon, it was unfortunate timing, because the filly sold to The Racing League on the Wednesday, with Shaquero showing his brilliance the following Saturday,
Shaquero, winner of the 2021 R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic
“Unfortunately, I had sold her on the Wednesday, from memory, and Shaquero came out and won on the Saturday,” Hannon said, speaking to TDN AusNZ. “That’s another bad luck story, but that’s the way it goes.”
Hannon’s decision to sell Luna Rocks is one that he admits he’d think twice about today. She is the fifth foal from his mare Fimatino (Not A Single Doubt), but the first of her fillies.
“She was a lovely foal and a very nice yearling,” Hannon said. “She’s by Hellbent, who was a first-season sire then, and Shaquero was also by a first-season sire in Shalaa. So we gave them a crack. They're the Invincible Spirit line, which is why I went there.”
“She’s (Luna Rocks) by Hellbent, who was a first-season sire then, and Shaquero was also by a first-season sire in Shalaa. So we gave them a crack. They're the Invincible Spirit line, which is why I went there.” - Bob Hannon
It’s a sireline that Hannon is particularly fond of.
He said Invincible Spirit has shown incredible tick in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres, and reports on Hellbent’s stock have been equally positive.
“People paid up for the Hellbents at the yearling sales, and some of the top trainers think they’ve got some nice ones,” Hannon said. “Mick Price has got a good one that could be going around in a stakes race in Melbourne on Saturday, so he’s had a few winners, this stallion.
“If he gets a 2-year-old black-type colt, he’ll be away and running because they’re very nice types.”
Hellbent | Standing at Yarraman Park Stud
Racy and well-related
Luna Rocks was Lot 305 on the Gold Coast in January last year. She wasn’t a big filly, but she was lean and athletic, as she demonstrated at Warwick Farm on Wednesday.
She is the best-selling of Fimatino’s stock to date, with the mare’s latest yearling, a colt by Rubick, heading to TFI at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, from the Attunga Stud draft, for $260,000.
“I was reluctant to sell Luna Rocks,” Hannon said. “I wanted to keep her to breed on from, but it’s too late for that now. She was always a very nice filly, a real racy type, and we were always confident that she would make a nice racehorse from day one.”
“I was reluctant to sell Luna Rocks. I wanted to keep her to breed on from, but it’s too late for that now. She was always a very nice filly, a real racy type, and we were always confident that she would make a nice racehorse from day one.” - Bob Hannon
Hannon said that the consistently Heavy tracks has helped very few young horses this side of Christmas. Just getting horses to the trials has been a monumental effort by many trainers.
“The good thing is this filly can handle it,” he said. “That’s a plus.”
The Fimatino family has proved rock solid in Australia. Outside of Shaquero, it boasts the Singapore stakes winner Ghozi (Catbird), who is a half-brother to Sunset Express (Success Express {USA}), the dam of Shamus Award.
Fimatino was bred by Hannon in 2009 and, since her Rubick colt, she’s a had a second filly by Cosmic Force that Hannon intends to retain. The mare is currently in foal to Capitalist.
Luna Rocks as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“We got good money for that Rubick colt,” Hannon said. “I think Annabel Neasham will be training him, and the Cosmic Force filly is really nice. Of course, I bred Cosmic Force and I stayed in him, so I’ll keep that filly to race and breed.”
Hannon is unsure if he’ll retain all of Fimatino’s progeny going ahead. He’s been in the game a long time, and he knows when to sell and when he needs to sell.
“I may have to sell some of them,” he said, chuckling. “I might need the cash to pay some bills.”
