100 Stakes Winners for Fastnet Rock

Coolmore's top international shuttler Fastnet Rock garnered his 100th black-type stakes winner Oct. 7 when Irish-bred Laganore won her first stakes in the Dubai Business Internships Pride Stakes at Newmarket.

Laganore is a homebred racing for Newtown Anner Stud, who has the filly in training with Tony Martin.

The filly is out of Lady Bones, an unraced daughter of Royal Applausewho is a half sister to Hong Kong champion stayer Blazing Speed (by Dylan Thomas). Laganore won twice out of six starts at age 3 last year, breaking her maiden in her third start at Naas in Ireland. She has improved at 4, having already won three times and finishing second twice out of seven starts so far this year. Prior to winning the Pride Stakes, she finished second in the Irish group III Denny Cordell Lavarack & Lanwades Stud Fillies Stakes at Gowran Park.

Fastnet Rock (Danehill—Piccadilly Circus, by Royal Academy) was bred in Australia by Linley Investments. Coolmore Australia offered the colt through the 2003 Inglis Easter yearling sale, where he was bought back on a fall-of-the-hammer price of US$179,423.

Coolmore went on to race Fastnet Rock in partnership with its bloodstock agent Demi O'Byrne, Eddie Irwin, and three men associated with Coolmore's Australian operation at the time—Michael Kirwan, Ken Barry, Duncan Grimley. The colt won six graded stakes in 2004 and 2005 and would be named Australia's champion 3-year-old and champion sprinter for the 2004-2005 season. He retired with more than $1.3 million in earnings.

Fastnet Rock stood his first six breeding seasons in Australia, entering the market in 2007 with a Aus$5,500 stud fee. As a second-crop sire, he got 10 black-type stakes winners and two years later had 20 stakes winners during the 2011 racing season. By 2012 he commanded an Aus$220,000 stud fee and began begin shuttled to Coolmore Stud in Ireland, which he has done regularly since then. His stud fee is now listed as private.

The 15-year-old stallion has had at least 18 black-type stakes winner each year since 2011, reaching a peak of 23 in 2015.

This year Fastnet Rock has had 15 black-type stakes winners worldwide through Oct. 7. He has been represented by grade/group winners Intricately (Moyglare Stud Stakes, Ire-I); Fascinating Rock (Tattersalls Gold Cup, Ire-I); One Foot in Heaven (Grand Prix de Chantilly, Fr-II); Somehow (Snow Fairy Dance Design Stakes, Ire-III); Zhukova (KPMG Enterprise Kilternan Stakes, Ire-III); Awesome Rock (Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes, Aus-II); Cougar Mountain (Shadwell Joel, Eng-II); Rivet (At the Races Champagne, Eng-II); Mongolian Falcon (Sacred Falls Hawkes Bay Guineas, NZ-II); and, Ringo (Red Badge Spring Sprint, NZ-III).

From nine crops of racing age, Fastnet Rock has sired 1,221 runners that have earned $90,137,573. Out of his 100 black-type stakes winners, he's had 63 graded/group winners and two champions. He got both champions for the 2011-2012 season when Rock 'n' Pop was named New Zealand's champion 3-year-old colt and Atlantic Jewel was named Australia's champion 3-year-old filly.