25th Stakes-Winner for Rock
2nd February 2008
Outstanding young sire Rock of Gibraltar produced his 25th stakes-winner worldwide at Flemington on Saturday when improving filly Musidora (3f Rock of Gibraltar - Nice Dancing, by Bering) made a quantum leap to win the Group Three VRC Vanity Stakes over 1400 metres.Driven forward from barrier three by Vlad Duric to sit just outside the leader, the David Hayes trained Musidora took charge on straightening and kicked right away to score a commanding win over stakes-winning fillies Pleastsundaygirl and Zarita.
A powerful chestnut with an attractive white star, Musidora won with ears pricked and looks poised for a good autumn in better company after graduating to her first Group victory off the back of a modest midweek success in a Ratings 72 event.
“Her last win was very good and she was always going to get a good run from the draw so her effort was not unexpected,” said David Hayes.
Musidora is a filly that has always shown promise having won easily on debut in Adelaide as a two year-old, but ended up spending the spring on the sidelines as a result of illness.
“We thought she’d be one of our spring fillies but she caught a nasty cold and spent most of that time in the paddock. You could say it was a blessing in disguise although it did not seem like that at the time,” quipped Hayes.
Not offered at public auction after being withdrawn from sale as a yearling, Musidora runs in the navy blue Coolmore colours and has now won three races from five starts earning $152,740.
She is the seventh foal of superbly bred Bering mare Nice Dancing, a half-sister to the dam of Golden Slipper winner and leading sire Flying Spur.
Her dam is American stakes-winner Grand Luxe, a daughter of legendary matriarch Fanfreluche, whose many superior descendants include leading sire Encosta de Lago.
Already the dam of several winners and two stakes-placed performers in the Northern Hemisphere, Nice Dancing (USA) was exported back to the Northern Hemisphere in December of 2004 after producing Musidora.
Rock of Gibraltar has sired half a dozen stakes-winners in Australasia this season alone with Musidora joining Sliding Cube, Pillar of Hercules, Gamble Me, Gibraltar Campion and the New Zealand based filly Lovetrista.
He completed his fifth consecutive season at Coolmore in Australia last spring at a fee of $82,500 and covered his biggest ever book of 193 mares.
Rock of Gibraltar has eight yearlings catalogued for the 2008 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in Melbourne and 34 for the Gold Coast at Magic Millions.
