Sires by Bloodline – Fastnet Rock

Coolmore’s champion Aussie bred sire Fastnet Rock might be turning 22 this year, but he posted his 43^rd Group I winner in Ireland last weekend with quality mares Via Sistina and Stay Alert running one-two in the Pretty Polly Stakes so there is no better time to take a closer look at his legacy as a sire of sires.

Fastnet Rock has had a lot of sons go to stud and of those still active El Roca, Merchant Navy, Smart Missile and Foxwedge have all left Group I winners, but the son that could have made a big difference to this sireline was Hinchinbrook.

A half-brother to Snitzel, this Group III winner spent his first five seasons at Yarraman Park standing at a fee of $16,500 before burgeoning success saw his fee climb to $38,500 and then $44,000 before his premature death in July, 2018 at age 10 when his fee had been set at $55,000. Hinchinbrook sired four Group I winners among 22 stakes-winners and still has a number of sons at stud.

The real hope of the sireline now is undoubtedly Acrobat, who has been given a golden opportunity at Coolmore despite his lack of race performance given he started just once for a brilliant win in the Inglis Nursery RL.

We have to take on trust the fact he could have been a Golden Slipper winner given his full sister Lake Geneva finished third in the race and another full sister Ennis Hill is the dam of this year’s outstanding filly Learning to Fly, who may have won the race if she had not clipped heels and lost her rider.

If you have faith in his ability and pedigree, then Acrobat is unbeatable value and with 188 mares covered in his first book last spring, a lot of breeders were happy to take the gamble.

The sire of five Group I winners, Foxwedge was relocated from the Hunter Valley to Woodside Park in Victoria in 2019 and his current star performer this season is Group winning mare Foxy Frida, a winner of over $550,000 in prizemoney.