Dual Australian Champion Sire Fastnet Rock (Aus) (Danehill) has been pensioned from stallion duty, Coolmore Australia announced.
Bred by Linley Investments, the son of Piccadilly Circus (Aus) (Royal Academy) would go on to race for an ownership group and trainer Paul Perry. His best days on the racecourse were in 2005, where he won the G1 Lightning S. and G1 Oakleigh Plate in succession. Named both Australian Champion Sprinter and Champion 3-Year-Old Colt that year, Fastnet Rock retired to stud with a mark of 19-6-7-2 and $1,312,623 in earnings.
As a stallion, he was even better, earning Australian titles in 2012 and 2015. Internationally, he has sired 193 stakes winners (122 group). Of those, 43 have been at the highest level, as he spent many seasons shuttling from his Coolmore Australia base to Coolmore Stud in Ireland.
Some of his best progeny have been fillies Avantage (Aus), an nine-time Group 1 winner in New Zealand, and four-time Group 1 winners Mosheen (Aus) and Atlantic Jewel (Aus). In the Northern Hemisphere, Fastnet Rock has sired the likes of three-time G1 Prix de la Foret heroine One Master (GB), dual hemisphere Group 1 winner Via Sistina (Ire), and G1 Champion S. and G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup victor Fascinating Rock (Ire).
As a broodmare sire, the 22-year-old has left 113 stakes winners (71 group). An even dozen of his daughters' foals are Group 1 winners anchored by decorated sprinter/miler Santa Ana Lane (Aus) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), and fellow top-level winners Zougotcha (Aus) (Zoustar {Aus}), G1 Yorkshire Oaks victress Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), and current Hong Kong star Russian Emperor (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
“Fastnet Rock has been a once-in-a-lifetime horse, and we are immensely grateful for the incredible journey he has taken us on. I hope he will enjoy a long and happy retirement here at Jerrys Plains,” said Coolmore's Tom Magnier. “His legacy will endure for generations to come, and we look forward to seeing his influence continue to shape the future of the sport. His son Acrobat (Aus) was the fastest 2-year-old ever at Randwick over 1000m and if his first foals are anything to go by, we'll be hearing a lot more about him in the future.”
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