ROSTROPOVICH (IRE) - 2015 bay colt
The first crop by Banstead Manor Stud's Timeform 147-rated superstar Frankel (by Galileo) had already yielded a double-digit tally of stakes winners by the time his second crop got off the mark in blacktype company, and the juvenile who did the honours for him was the Aidan O'Brien-trained Rostropovich.
Unplaced over seven furlongs at Leopardstown on his racecourse debut in late May, he opened his winning account at Gowran Park a month later but then disappointed when last of three in a slowly-run contest at Naas. Both that race and his debut were won by the Ger Lyons-trained Camelback, but the Ballydoyle colt got his revenge when the pair met for a third time. Rostropovich was all out to short-head Coat Of Arms in the Group 2 Galileo Irish EBF Futurity Stakes at the Curragh, with another stable companion, Berkeley Square, one and three-quarter lengths back in third, a head in front of Camelback.
Rostropovich, who was bred by Epona Bloodstock Ltd, is a 1,100,000gns graduate of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and he holds a string of big-race entries, including next year's Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas and Group 1 Investec Derby.
He is out of the dual seven-furlong winner Tyranny (by Machiavellian) and that makes him a half-brother both to Group 2-placed pattern winner Wilshire Boulevard (by Holy Roman Emperor), who is at stud in Denmark, and to Group 1 Phoenix Stakes winner and Coolmore Stud stallion Zoffany (by Dansili). Zoffany's eldest progeny are four-year-olds and his tally of 13 stakes winners includes classic-placed Group 1 scorer Ventura Storm, juvenile Group 2 winners Foundation, Illuminate, and Waterloo Bridge, Group 2 Mehl-Mulhens Rennen (German 2000 Guineas) victor Knife Edge, and the multiple Group 1-placed, pattern-winning sprinter Washington DC. Tyranny is a half-sister to Grade 2 Lake Placid Handicap heroine Spotlight (by Dr Fong) and also to Dusty Answer (by Zafonic), the stakes-placed dam of Group 2 Oaks d'Italia runner-up Counterclaim (by Pivotal). She is out of the Group 3 Prix de la Nonette scorer Dust Dancer (by Suave Dancer) – who is, in turn, out of a one-time juvenile winner named Galaxie Dust (by Blushing Groom) – and Dust Dancer's full-sister Dust Flicker is the dam of Listed National Stakes winner Sweepstake (by Acclamation), a precocious and speedy filly who was later a Grade 3-placed stakes winner over eight and a half furlongs in the USA. But Dust Dancer also has two half-siblings of note. One is the Group 1-placed middle-distance stakes winner Zimzalabim (by Damister) and the other is Bulaxie (by Bustino), the Group 3 Fred Darling Stakes winner and Group 2 Premio Lydia Tesio runner-up who went on to become a successful broodmare. Her daughter Injaad (by Machiavellian), who is somewhat closely related to Tyranny, is the dam of the stakes-winning sprinter Mutamarres (by Green Desert), but the most notable of Bulaxie's offspring is Claxon (by Caerleon). She won the Group 2 Premio Lydia Tesio, she is the dam of Group 1-placed Grade 3 scorer Cassydora (by Darshaan) and of listed race winner Classic Remark (by Dr Fong), and she is the grandam of the pattern winners Ernest Hemingway (by Galileo) and Toulifaut (by Frankel). The first of that latter pair was best at 12-14 furlongs, and the other one won last year's Group 3 Prix d'Aumale over a mile. All of Rostropovich's races have been over seven furlongs, but with the way he won at the Curragh, combined with his pedigree, there is every reason to hope that he could be effective at a mile to 10 furlongs next season, possibly also staying the mile and a half. It remains to be seen just how good he is, but if he goes on to win at the highest level then one would expect that he would find a good place at stud, especially if Zoffany continues to produce stakes and pattern winners. Comments are closed.
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