For the 'thinking man', Fastnet Rock leads the pack: Coolmore
The Age
Friday July 10, 2009
COOLMORE Australia's regular newsletters are always entertaining, although naturally biased towards its stallions, and this week's edition was up with the best of them.The lead item was in regard to Fastnet Rock, who is currently second-leading first-season sire by winners and sixth by prizemoney."It's unlikely he'll claim an official title. For a start, he's not going to do it by earnings. But that's okay - it's a dubious marker, for juvenile sires anyway . . ." it says."And he may not do it by winners, despite spinning out 10 of them . . . because one of those is in Hong Kong."However, don't feel sorry for the son of Danehill, because, according to the blurb, he will win a title anyway. Again, to quote the newsletter: "Fastnet Rock is unquestionably the thinking man's leading first-crop sire for the season just ended."No doubt he will be following in the hoof prints of some great thinking men's first-season sires of the past.- Across the Tasman, Volksraad has an unbeatable lead in the New Zealand general sires' table but there is still plenty of interest in the inaugural Centaine Award, based on the progeny earnings of all New Zealand-conceived racehorses worldwide.At the moment, Centaine's former Waikato Stud barn mate O'Reilly has a lead of around $166,000 over Zabeel. O'Reilly has had a dominant season in Hong Kong but with racing there finished for the season, Zabeel is still a big chance of hitting the front.After another outstanding season in Australia, Zabeel has an unbeatable lead over Montjeu in the Dewar Award, which is based on earnings of New Zealand-based sires in Australia and New Zealand.- Today marks the launch of the inaugural Victorian Stallions Book, with Kevin Sheedy taking time out from his bid for the Richmond coaching job to deliver a keynote address.No doubt Sheedy will get in a plug for his favourite stallion, Bel Esprit, although there will, perhaps, be an honourable mention for Swettenham Stud's Hold That Tiger.
© 2009 The Age