Coolmore Stud sire Fastnet Rock (Danehill – Piccadilly Circus, by Royal Academy) will serve dual Group 1 winner Shamrocker (O’Reilly – Bohemian Blues, by Blues Traveller) after connections decided to retire the mare due to a persistent injury.
Hindquarter issues dogged the AJC Australian Derby (2400m) and Australian Guineas (1600m) winner during a fruitless spring campaign. Shamrocker’s trainer Danny O’Brien told Racing Victoria the five-year-old has not recovered as well as connections would have liked, prompting the decision to retire the three-time Stakes winner.
“She created history,” O’Brien said. “She was the only filly to win the Australian Guineas and the AJC Derby – Miss Finland tried to do it and Triscay tried to do, but Shamrocker was the first filly to ever do it – so she’ll always have a special place to me.”
“We gave her a long break to get over her issues, but even with that and a nice searching prep this time in, when we put her under pressure we don’t think she’d fully shaken everything off.
“She’s a two-time Group 1 winner, so unless she could come back to her absolute top and win another Group 1 there’s not much point pushing her as a racehorse when she’s already got the record she has.
“With that in mind, it’s the right time of the year to be making this decision and she’s got her future in front of her in the breeding shed.”