17th Group One Winner for Fastnet

Exciting filly First Seal (3f Fastnet Rock x Episode, by Scenic) capped her meteoric rise to fame with a dominant victory in the Group I ATC Flight Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.

The John Thompson trained First Seal looked good when winning the Group II ATC Tea Rose Stakes at her fourth start, but looked a superstar in the making with this win.

She travelled sweetly for Black Shinn and when asked to get serious, dropped her rivals in a twinkling to win the 1600 metre feature by three lengths.

“She showed us from day one she was very good,” Thompson said. “When Blake first galloped her, he got off her and he couldn’t even talk, he just giggled.

“She’s a machine, a beautiful horse.”

First Seal’s next assignment is undecided with Thompson’s primary focus being on the filly’s long term future.

Races under consideration are next Saturday’s Group I ATC Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) and the Group II VRC Wakeful Stakes (2000m).

“We’ll see how she comes through this race, the horse comes first,” Thompson said.

A $700,000 NZB Premier purchase from the Curraghmore Stud draft for Bart Cummings, First Seal runs for a powerful group of owners that includes China Horse Club, Raffles Thoroughbred Racing and Think Big Stud.

Entered for all the three year-old majors this spring, First Seal has three wins and a second on the board from just five starts with prizemoney of $403,360.

Bred by Raffles Dancers, First Seal is a three-quarter sister to Group II STC Tulloch Stakes winner Book of Kells and is the seventh winner for Episode, who won both the Group I SAJC Australasian Oaks and South Australian Oaks as well as finishing second in the Queensland Oaks.

First Seal is the 17th Group I winner for champion sire Fastnet Rock.