Date posted March 14, 2010 | Posted by Michele Cullen | Filed under
Fastnet Rock,
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Staff FavouritesMelbourne, Vic (March 14th, 2010) - Fastnet Rock made it two Group One winners on successive Saturdays when Rock Classic won the Group One VRC Australian Guineas at Flemington.
Having his first start in a black type event, the lightly raced gelding wasn’t given much chance by punters sending him out unwanted as an $18 shot, but a few gear changes got his mind on the job and the bay emerged as one of the better three-year-olds in the country.
Given a great run in transit by Michael Rodd, Rock Classic, charged to the line to win the 1600 metre classic by more than a length from top class filly Set for Fame (Reset - Northpoint by Dehere) with Linton (Galileo - Our Heather by Centaine) filling third spot three-quarters-of-a-length away.
Rock Classic wins the Group I Australian Guineas at Flemington.
“He had a few problems and we figured out how to resolve them,” his trainer Bart Cummings said.
“He got his tongue over the bit and he didn’t like the tongue-tie so we added the Norton bit, then we put blinkers on because he keeps looking at horses around him.
“If he’s outside, he goes away from them. If he’s inside, he runs through the fence.”
A $275,000 purchase from the draft of Luskin Park Stud at the 2008 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, Rock Classic has won three of his five career-starts. With more than $550,000 in earnings todate he has paid for himself in full and given the partnership that includes Cummings and breeder Paul Whelan a healthy return on investment with the promise of more to come.
Rock Classic’s win in the Australian Guineas was the first in for his master trainer. One of the few group one races on the Australian racing calendar that Cummings did not have to his credit the inexperienced gelding changed that in a little under one minute and 37 seconds.
Rock Classic is the third foal and first stakes-winner for Peintre Celebre mare Midnight Ballet, a daughter of Blue Diamond winner Midnight Fever.
Midnight Ballet is a member of the Patinack Farm broodmare band and was covered by Tale of the Cat last spring. She has a yearling filly by Encosta de Lago that was entered by Tinkler into the Australian Easter Yearling Sale in April and gives Lot 575 a huge pedigree update.
Rock Classic is the ninth stakes-winner overall for Fastnet Rock and is his third Group One winner joining the Newmarket Hcp winner, Wanted and Irish Lights winner of the 1000 Guineas.
The win by Rock Classic gave Fastnet Rock a interstate stakes double as earlier in the day at Randwick in New South Wales his unbeaten colt Hinchinbrook (ex Snippets’ Lass by Snippets) , won the Group 3 Skyline Stakes (1200m) by a short-head.
