Fastnet Rock One Short Of His Century

Karaka graduate Ringo picked up the biggest win of his career when he gave Fastnet Rock the first of two significant stakes winners at Hastings on Saturday to leave the champion sire one short of 100 black type winners.

Ringo (Fastnet Rock x Akris by Zabeel) claimed the G3 Red Badge Spring Sprint at Hastings on Saturday to become Fastnet Rock’s 98th stakes winner and was quickly followed by Mongolian Falcon (Fastnet Rock x Amazing Beauty by Galileo) in the G2 Hawkes Bay Guineas.

Ringo is trained by at Awapuni by Mike Breslin, who purchased the seven-year-old for $NZ150,000 from the Wellfield Lodge draft at the 2011 NZB Karaka Premier Sale.

Ringo, who has now had 28 starts for eight wins, six placings and more than $250,000 in stakes, is out of Akris, the dam of four winners from four foals to race.

Ringo is the second of the mare’s progeny to win at stakes level, joining his sister Planet Rock who won five races including the G1 NZ Bloodstock 1000 Guineas, G2 Eight Carat Classic and G3 Lowland Stakes.

Ringo finished second in the G2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile at Riccarton last November and is now likely to return to try to go one better.

Mongolian Falcon was a decisive five length winner of the Hawke’s Bay Guineas at his first start since finishing third over 1200m in August. He beat Jon Snow (Iffraaj) into second with the previousl;y unbeaten Heroic Valour, another son of Fastnet Rock, third.

Mongolian Falcon will be aimed at the NZ 2000 Guineas at RIccarton by his co-trainers Donna Logan and Chris Gibbs.

The Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards-trained Hall Of Fame (Savabeel) will also target the NZ 2000 Guineas after cruising to victory in the Guineas Trial at Riccarton for the Te Akau Stud syndicate.

* THE European breeding influence extended to New Zealand on Saturday when the much-travelled Irish-bred 9YO Willie Cazals won the G1 Livamol Classic at Hastings.

Willie Cazals (Aussie Rules x Secret Marina by Mujadil) is the second G1 winner by the late Aussie Rules, the Danehill sire who was euthanased in February after suffering from a tumour.

Willie Cazals was winning for the first time in three years. He started his career in Italy but spent four years racing in Hong Kong before making his way to the Lance O’Sullivan stable in NZ.

His Hong Kong form included a second to Flintshire in the G1 Hong Kong Vase in 2014.

Willie Cazals has now won six of his 25 career starts, including three stakes victories, for career earnings of $NZ1,805,688.

His dam Secrete Marina is also the producer of four other winners including the G2 winner in Italy Joanna (High Chaparral).

His second dam Marina Lady (Riverman) is a half-sister to the stakes winner and stakes producing mare Idle Affair (Try My Best).

• VICTORIAN trainer Nigel Blackiston didn’t know whether he could afford Stravinsky colt Inside Agent when he offered as a yearling at the Premier session of the 2015 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales at Karaka.

The Flemington trainer put together an ownership group to eventually secure him for $180,000 and It may prove to be a cheap buy after Inside Agent landed the Listed Poseidon Stakes at Flemington on Sunday at his second race start

The Cambridge Stud-bred colt, the 75th stakes winner by Stravisnky, is from well performed Octagonal mare Octapussy and is a half brother to stakes winning mare Pussy O’Reilly who finished second in the G1 Makfi Challenge Stakes.

“We wanted to buy him but I wasn’t sure we could afford him. It’s the most I’ve spent but I got people involved and it’s worked out really well,” Blackiston said.

Inside Agent would now head to the Gothic Stakes at Caulfield on October 15 before the Carbine Club Stakes at Flemington on October 29.

A half-sister to Inside Agent fetched $600,000 at the New Zealand Premier Yearling Sale earlier this year when purchased by the China Horse Club from the Cambridge Stud draft.