Fastnet Rock is an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse stallion.
Sired by Danehill to dam Piccadilly Circus, he started his racing career in 2004. Though he did not win any races as a two-year-old, he ran third in the Group One AJC Sires Produce Stakes. He found great success after turning three years old. After being unplaced in the Caulfield Guineas, he proved himself as one of the top Australian sprinters by winning the Group 1 Lightning Stakes and Oakleigh Plate in February, 2005.
Trainer Paul Perry wished Fastnet Rock to repeat the successful English campaign by Choisir, who is trained by Perry, in 2003. After he ran second in the T J Smith Stakes in March 2005, Fastnet Rock was sent to the United Kingdom to prepare for the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes and July Cup. Unfortunately, Fastnet Rock suffered from travel sickness and was unable to run in any race in the UK. He retired from racing since then and headed to stud, and now stands at Coolmore Stud Australia in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales.
Fastnet Rock had covered 257 mares in 2007, behind only Bel Esprit (266). In 2008 Fastnet Rock covered 248 mares at a fee of $82,500.
Famous quotes containing the word rock:
“The acorn’s not yet
Fallen from the tree
That’s to grow the wood,
That’s to make the cradle,
That’s to rock the bairn,
That’s to grow a man,
That’s to lay me.”
—Unknown. The Cauld Lad of Hilton or, The Wandering Spectre (l. 2–8)