Avenging a comprehensive defeat by Found in the G3 Mooresbridge S. over 10 furlongs here May 2, last year's G1 Champion S. winner Fascinating Rock hammered home his superiority in these soft-ground conditions to adjust the score over the filly to two-one. Looking like a valid Classic colt when winning the 2014 G3 Ballysax S. staged at Navan and being promoted from second to first in Leopardstown's G3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial, the bay was only eighth in the G1 Epsom Derby and last of five in the Irish equivalent at this venue before the slate was wiped clean for his 4-year-old campaign. Starting that with a win in the Listed Heritage S. over a mile back at Leopardstown in April, he captured the Mooresbridge here in May prior to finishing runner-up to Al Kazeem (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in this contest later that month. Only fifth under a penalty in the G3 Winter Hill S. over 10 furlongs at Windsor in August, he was upped again to a mile and a half for Leopardstown's G3 KPMG Enterprise S. at Leopardstown in September and bounced back to form with an impressive six-length success to restore his self-esteem prior to his career-best in Ascot's feature prize. As he had been at Windsor after his summer break, Fascinating Rock needed his reappearance run in the Mooresbridge with connections far from deflated with his third placing but it was hard to escape the elan with which Found travelled past him in that warm-up and the punters fully expected a repeat performance here. Tracking the pace set by the habitual front-runner Success Days in second throughout the early stages, the homebred was left with just Bocca Baciata (Ire) (Big Bad Bob {Ire}) for company at the top of the straight as the long-time leader was guided over to the stand's rail to race alone. Taking command approaching the quarter pole with Ryan Moore targeting him on Found, he stayed on strongly to turn back that heavy favourite in a tour de force. “He's a very good horse. We were always confident he was going to improve for his last run,” jockey Pat Smullen said. “We were very pleased with his work heading into the race. He's a horse who is only maturing now, but he's a horse who needs ease in the ground. We prayed for rain and got it.” Trainer Dermot Weld added, “It's a race I love to win. It's an excellent group 1 and it always takes a very good horse to win it. I've been fortunate to win it with a few very good horses in the past and he's as good as any of them. He beat Found fair and square in the English Champion Stakes last year, so there was no reason he couldn't beat her again. I'll speak to the owner, but he might have the summer off now. We'll look to train him for the [G1] Irish Champion S. [at Leopardstown Sept. 10] and the [G1] Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe [at Longchamp Oct. 2]. His next race will most likely be the [G2] Royal Whip [at The Curragh Aug. 21] as a prep for the Irish Champion Stakes. He has all the class to win an Arc. He has won a group race over a mile and a half at Leopardstown, so gets the trip well. He's a big horse and takes a run, no matter what you do with him.Last year, we took him to Windsor and he came back and won at Leopardstown. It's hard to get him 100 per-cent first time out. That was a excellent renewal of the race and Found is an outstanding mare.” Fascinating Rock's family features the four-times group winner and G1 Prix de la Foret runner-up Gothenberg (Ire) (Polish Patriot), with his third dam Be Discreet being a half to three black-type-winners, most notably the GIII winner Kirov Premiere (GB) (Sadler's Wells). She is in turn the dam of the GI American Oaks Invitational and Japanese Oaks-winning champion Cesario (Jpn) (Special Week {Jpn}), whose Leontes (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) was last year's champion Japanese juvenile colt and whose Epiphaneia (Jpn) (Symboli Krs S) captured the G1 Japan Cup. This is also the family of the recent GII Royal Heroine S. scorer Nancy From Nairobi (GB) (Sixties Icon {GB}). Miss Polaris also has the as-yet unraced 3-year-old colt Newcross (Ire) by Cape Cross (Ire) and an unnamed yearling filly by Rock of Gibraltar (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Sunday, Curragh, Ireland
TATTERSALLS GOLD CUP-G1, €250,000, CUR, 5-22, 4yo/up, 10 1/2fT, 2:20.72, sf.
1–FASCINATING ROCK (IRE), 129, h, 5, by Fastnet Rock (Aus)
1st Dam: Miss Polaris (GB), by Polar Falcon
2nd Dam: Sarabah (Ire), by Ela-Mana-Mou (Ire)
3rd Dam: Be Discreet (Ire), by Junius
O/B-Newtown Anner Stud Farm Ltd (IRE); T-Dermot Weld; J-Pat Smullen. €147,500. Lifetime Record: Hwt. Older Horse-Eur at 9.5-11f & G1SW-Eng, 14-8-1-1, $1,759,519. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Found (Ire), 126, f, 4, Galileo (Ire)–Red Evie (Ire), by Intikhab. O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Roncon, Wynatt & Chelston (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. €50,000.
[bullet ad=”irt-shell”]3–Success Days (Ire), 129, c, 4, Jeremy–Malaica (Fr), by Roi Gironde (Ire). O-Robert Ng; B-Robert Ng & Dermot Farrington (IRE); T-Ken Condon. €25,000.
Margins: 3 3/4, 1HF, 4 1/4. Odds: 2.25, 0.50, 8.00.
Also Ran: Bocca Baciata (Ire), Hot Sauce (Ire), The Steward. Scratched: The Grey Gatsby (Ire), Time Test (GB).
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