Acrobat

Acrobat won the $500,000 RL Inglis Nursery, setting a new Royal Randwick track record over 1000 metres (56 seconds). He is a son of Fastnet Rock, whose impressive progeny record is a great starting point in determining the best crosses for Acrobat.

Fastnet Rock has shown an affinity for the GOODY TWO SHOES family, having produced 13 Group 1 winners to-date out of mares from this line. Acrobat’s dam is a granddaughter of family member Nureyev, a three-quarter brother to SADLER’S WELLS and FAIRY KING. This is additional reason for mares descending from these two individuals to go to Acrobat. Fastnet Rock has nine Group 1 winners by Sadler’s Wells’ son GALILEO (sire of ADELAIDE, FRANKEL, NEW APPROACH, TEOFILO, RIP VAN WINKLE etc) and another by his son, SCENIC.

GOODY TWO SHOES family member Fairy King is the grandsire of the dam of Fastnet Rock’s Group 1 winner, Dreamforce, via SHINKO KING. Fairy King can also be sourced via ENCOSTA DE LAGO (sire of NORTHERN METEOR etc), FALBRAV and HELISSIO. Acrobat’s dam Hips Don’t Lie’s SP half brother Azevedo is by Helissio, adding further weight to this damsire for Acrobat. Another family member, PERUGINO, is the maternal grandsire of Group 1 winner, Prince Fawaz, via TESTA ROSSA. Additional family members to seek in mares are GEIGER COUNTER, YEATS, INFLATE, VAL DE LOIR, RIDAN, THATCH and his son THATCHING,LORENZACCIO, TOPSIDER, FESTIVAL HALL, FOX MYTH, LT. STEVENS, REFORM and OPEN DAY.

ZABEEL is another broodmare sire to have produced multiple Group 1 winners by Fastnet Rock, namely Atlantic Jewel, Avantage and Planet Rock. Zabeel contributes a daughter of NUREYEV from the GOODY TWO SHOES family. This is additionally attractive for Acrobat, as his grandsire Stravinsky is a son of Nureyev, thereby creating a sex balanced duplication. Zabeel’s sire SIR TRISTRAM is the damsire of Fastnet Rock’s Group 1 winner, Rock ‘n’ Pop.

Danehill and Northern Dancer (three lines) are ALMAHMOUD family members. This line can be further reinforced by influences including MACHIAVELLIAN (sire of STREET CRY, VETTORI etc), EL MOXIE, EXIT TO NOWHERE, ORPEN and HALO. Halo can be sourced via damsires such as SEBRING, DON’T SAY HALO, FUJI KISEKI, MORE THAN READY, SOUTHERN IMAGE, IRGUN and SUNDAY SILENCE. To-date, Fastnet Rock has produced Group 1 winners Atlante (More Than Ready) and Your Song (Fuji Kiseki) from Halo line mares.

Fastnet Rock is out of a Royal Academy mare. He is a close relation to STORM CAT, who has worked very well with Royal Academy in matings. Group 1 winner Foxwedge is an example. Damsires carrying Storm Cat include BLACK MINNALOUSHE, HENNESSY, GIANT’S CAUSEWAY, TALE OF THE CAT, SHAMARDAL and VAN NISTELROOY.

Royal Academy is by Nijinsky II, a TORPENHOW family member. Others to seek in mares’ pedigrees include ALABAMA EXPRESS, DOMESDAY, NIAGARA, AJAYA, MANHATTAN RAIN, RUBICK, HURRICANE SKY, XAAR, FAR NORTH, NEW REGENT, FREE AMERICA, FRIENDLY RELATION, RULER, MASTERCLASS, EL GRAN SENOR and TRY MY BEST. The latter Try My Best is the sire of LAST TYCOON, in turn sire of O’REILLY. Hips Don’t Lie’s SP half sisters Procurement and Acquired are out of O’Reilly mares. Last Tycoon is also the ancestor of damsires WRITTEN TYCOON, BIGSTONE, IGLESIA, MARJU, ALAMOSA and SACRED FALLS.

Fastnet Rock’s Group 1 winners Merchant Navy and Wanted are out of mares by SNIPPETS, while Sea Siren is out of a SUCCESS EXPRESS mare.

Unsurprisingly for a Danehill stallion, Fastnet Rock has worked very well with MR PROSPECTOR. Group 1 winners Catchy, Rocket Spade and Albany Reunion are out of FUSAICHI PEGASUS mares. Other Mr Prospector line damsires to produce Group 1 winners with Fastnet Rock are Supercool’s damsire KINGMAMBO (sire of KING’S BEST,DUBAI DESTINATION, HENRYTHENAVIGATOR, KING CUGAT, etc), LION CAVERN (Lone Rock) and HUSSONET (Shoals).

Hips Don’t Lie’s sire Stravinsky is out of a mare by Blushing Groom. A sex balanced duplication can be achieved with mares carrying sons of BLUSHING GROOM. They include FANTASTIC LIGHT, NASSIPOUR, NOVERRE andRAINBOW QUEST (and sons SPECTRUM, BIN AJWAAD and QUEST FOR FAME, sire of VISCOUNT).