Dashed Against the Rock

Handed the opportunity to take part in Saturday’s G1 Qipco Champion S. after a confidence-boosting win on Irish Champions weekend, Newtown Anner Stud Farm’s Fascinating Rock (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) grasped it with relish to provide Dermot Weld with a first victory in the showcase race that is now firmly established at Ascot. Held up early by Pat Smullen towards the rear as the pace proved strong, the 10-1 shot who had revived his fortunes with a six-length success in the 12-furlong G3 KPMG Enterprise S. at Leopardstown last time Sept. 12 worked his way into contention off the home turn. Wearing down the even-money favorite Jack Hobbs (GB) (Halling) passing the furlong pole, the homebred stayed on to score by 1 1/4 lengths from his compatriot Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), with Jack Hobbs a half length back in third. “Our horses fly around here and this horse has been a little bit under-estimated for a while,” Smullen said. “For the first time in a long time he got his ideal conditions of a fast-run mile-and-a-quarter race with a good ease in the ground and it brought the best out of him. He’s a huge horse who is improving all the time and we always felt he was a Group 1 horse. He proved it today and beat them all on merit.”

Saturday, Ascot, Britain
QIPCO CHAMPION S.-G1, £1,358,750, ASC, 10-17, 3yo/up, 10fT, 2:06.31, g/s.
1–&FASCINATING ROCK (IRE), 131, c, 4, 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. £770,547. Lifetime Record: MGSW & G1SP-Ire, 12-7-1-0, $1,586,206. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Found (Ire), 123, f, 3, Galileo (Ire)–Red Evie (Ire), by Intikhab. O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Roncon, Wynatt & Chelston (IRE); T-Aidan O’Brien. £292,131.
3–Jack Hobbs (GB), 126, c, 3, Halling–Swain’s Gold, by Swain (Ire). (60,000gns Ylg ‘13 TAOCT). O-Godolphin & Partners; B-Minster Stud (GB); T-John Gosden. £146,202.
Margins: 1 1/4, HF, 1HF. Odds: 10.00, 4.50, 1.00.
Also Ran: Racing History (Ire), Air Pilot (GB), The Corsican (Ire), Tullius (Ire), Ribbons (GB), Palace Prince (Ger), Sumbal (Ire), Maverick Wave, Lightning Spear (GB), Vadamos (Fr). Click for the Racing Post result, the brisnet.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

In the shadow of stable companion Free Eagle (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) for much of his career, Fascinating Rock came up short in the Classics after winning substandard renewals of last year’s G3 Ballysax S. staged at Navan and Leopardstown’s G3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial–the latter of which he only gained when being promoted to first from second by the stewards. Only eighth in the G1 Epsom Derby and last of five in the Irish equivalent at The Curragh in June, the bay was on the shelf for the remainder of 2014 but returned in winning fashion in the Listed Heritage S. over a mile back at Leopardstown Apr. 15 before adding the G3 Mooresbridge S. to his tally over this distance back in Kildare May 4. Upstaged only by Al Kazeem (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and ahead of Postponed (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and The Grey Gatsby (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup returning to The Curragh 20 days later, Fascinating Rock may have needed his re-introduction after a subsequent rest when three-lengths fifth to Racing History (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) under a penalty in the G3 Winter Hill S. also over this trip at Windsor Aug. 29. Sent over a mile and a half at Leopardstown last time, he opened up to record an impressive score in a small field in what proved a typically expertly timed jolt to his ego by Dermot Weld. Much has been said about Pat Smullen’s judgment of pace and it proved unerringly accurate again here as he anchored his mount well off the pace set by Maverick Wave (Elusive Quality). As Jack Hobbs had been sent forward from his wide draw to take a strong early stance behind his pacemaker, the race became intense as a result and Smullen and Ryan Moore on Found were content to wait for the leaders to fold. William Buick committed Godolphin’s red-hot favorite with a quarter mile remaining, but he was never able to shake off the chasers and Fascinating Rock weaved between rivals to overhaul him inside the final furlong and extend out of reach of the eye-catching closer Found. “I didn’t anticipate them going as hard as they did and they went very fast–in truth I wanted to be closer to the pace than I was, but I felt I couldn’t sustain it,” his rider said. “I was quite happy they were going to come back to me, but I needed a lot of luck and the gaps and this was one of the days when you get them.” For Weld, the win represented another landmark in his distinguished training career and he said, “This has been the plan for about six months and was always the race which I thought would suit him best, with the ground on the slow side and the fact that he is a very good horse in the autumn. He ran a bit flat at Windsor for whatever reason, I couldn’t be sure, but he did have a delay traveling over and it was his first run for four months but he came back with an impressive win last time out. I think he’ll be a lovely 5-year-old, so hopefully he’ll be back next year. He only got beaten a neck by Al Kazeem in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh, that was an excellent performance and that would be a logical race to start him off in.” Found’s trainer Aidan O’Brien revealed that the filly will remain in training next year. “Ryan [Moore] was delighted with her, she ran a great race,” he commented. “Ryan had her nice and relaxed and she came home very well. Hopefully she is a filly we can look forward to next year.” John Gosden was also looking ahead for Jack Hobbs and commented, “Drawn where we were, we were going to have to go and not sit back and we paid the price at the other end. I’m very happy with him. He’s come back nicely, but he just showed his immaturity as I thought he might–a weakness in the last furlong. He’s still like a 15-year-old kid and it’s all about next year–we’ll have a bigger, stronger horse at four and five. He can run in something like the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. at Sandown, which is a nice stepping stone for Group 1 winners, and I’m also not frightened of going straight to a mile and a half with him. His style of racing suits that better. Over a mile and a quarter here today, we had to ask him a lot of questions and he’s tried to answer every one but he’s only a baby and to that extent I’m very happy with him.” John Ferguson added, “I think with where we were drawn, William had to do what he had to do and use up plenty of petrol. He was there to be fired at, but we bought him as a horse for next year and it has been such a pleasure to have so much fun with him this year. I was also thrilled with Racing History and he will also be a fun horse for next year.”