Everyone Needs a Hero!

Media Release - Monday September 11
There is a definite taste of spring in the air at Chris & Kathie Bakker's Lauriston Park with the second crop of resident stallion Rock Hero starting to arrive.

Yearling by Rock Hero

Yearling by Rock Hero

And they are looking just as good as his first, Chris Bakker impressed by their size, quality and scope.

"He is such a lovely, big, strong horse and it is great to see him stamping his progeny with his own class and style," he said.

"I am so pleased with how his first foals are maturing, they are very correct and athletic with great temperaments. I look at them in the paddocks and think that there is not one who I would say is not a chance of being a race horse."

Meanwhile Bakker is always very happy with how Rock Hero himself is faring, at seven letting down into a "magnificent stallion."

Trained by David Payne, Rock Hero was a talented racehorse with an impressive turn of foot. He displayed blistering speed to win the Listed Dulcify Quality, overcoming a slow start to claim the 1600m contest in easy fashion.

And he was highly regarded by the stable who compared him favourably with his then stablemate Criterion... "there was a time," Payne said, "that I thought Rock Hero might be as good as if not a bit better than Criterion."

Payne was impressed by how Rock Hero progressed with each start; "in every race he had since his first start he has gone 'whoosh' and improved by about four or five lengths."

"He had such a big stride," he added, "he would take one to their two."

Rock Hero

Rock Hero

Rock Hero is bred on the same Fastnet Rock/Galileo cross as the Group One winners Intricately, Rivet, Qualify, Zhukova and Magicool; a cross that boasts an outstanding 17.7% stakes winners to runners strike rate.

Fastnet Rock has sired 121 stakes winners including 28 Group One winners. He boasts progeny earnings in excess of $128 million and has been represented by winners in 20 different countries (stakes winners in 16 of those). His statistics make for impressive reading; a 68.2% winners-to-runners strike rate with 8.5% stakes winners to runners.

Already seven of his sons (Foxwedge, Hinchinbrook, Stryker, Your Song, Smart Missile, Rothesay and Wanted) and this branch of the Danehill sire line is known for producing a variety of high class winners beyond just early maturing speedsters.

Rock Hero is a son of the classy and durable mare Gallant Tess. A mare who spent most of her career racing in stakes company, she won five races, two of those at Group Two level; the Chelmsford Stakes, 1600m and the AJC Breeders' Classic, 1200m - also winning a Listed contest and placing in five Group One events.

Gallant Tess is one of the best of the locally bred progeny of the mighty Galileo, sire of 255 stakes winners (including 67 Group One winners) and an outstanding broodmare sire force with his daughters already producing 77 stakes winners, 13 of whom have been successful at the elite level.

"It seems that with anything regarding Galileo you can't go wrong," said Coolmore's Michael Magnier - "whether its seven furlong horses or Derby types, two-year-olds, three-year-olds, older horses... he gets them all. And as a broodmare sire he seems to work with anything."

Galileo enjoyed a particularly good weekend with Hydrangea and Decorated Knight winning at Group One level at Leopardstown whilst his sons Frankel and Teofilo were also represented by Group winners.

Hailing from a prolific family that has been producing outstanding gallopers for generations, Rock Hero is a descendant of the incomparable Mumtaz Mahal... also ancestress of such outstanding stallions as Nasrullah, Royal Charger, Mahmoud, Kalamoun, Danewin, Mossman and Commands.

Rock Hero has spring foals due by a nice range of mares including daughters of Encosta de Lago, Redoute's Choice, Zabeel, Canny Lad, Commands, Desert King, Mossman, Tale Of The Cat, Choisir, Nicconi, Volksraad, So You Think, Hussonet, Testa Rossa and Danehill Dancer.

Standing alongside Rock Hero at picturesque Lauriston is Desert King who is still in fine fettle aged 24. "You would not guess his age looking at him," Bakker said, noting that Desert King is enjoying life and that he and Rock Hero are the best of mates.

The sire of champions in both hemispheres including the great Makybe Diva, Desert King has been represented by 27 stakes winners including six Group One winners. He stands at a private fee and will cover a select book of mares this season, Bakker happy to take enquires from the proven stallion's many fans.

For further information on Rock Hero contact Lauriston Park's Chris and Kathie Bakker (0427 903 353) or LP Stallion's Julie Nairn (0402 901 910)

W: lauristonpark.com.au or lpstallions.com.au

Advertisment
More Reading...
Galileo Blueblood Wins G3 Parramatta Cup for Darby Racing
Scott Darby and his team at Darby Racing have a happy knack for finding real value at a sale and a blueblood three year-old Galileo colt they purchased from Coolmore at the 2022 Tattersalls Horse in Training for Sale for just 60,000 guineas looks very much a horse on the up.
First Winner for Rock Hero
No one has to tell Chris Bakker that Rock Hero will have to do it the hard way if the stallion is to become successful in the breeding industry.
Catalogue Updates From Weekend Stakes Racing
There have been some solid updates to yearling sale catalogues over the weekend from stakes racing including a filly at MM Adelaide that is now a half to a stakes winner, and the very promising West Of Swindon’s half-sister at Inglis Easter.
Talented Trapeze Artist Gelding Returns a Winner!
Winner of the Group III ATC Carbine Club Stakes last autumn as a colt, talented Trapeze Artist four year-old Ducasse returned to the races as a gelding at Rosehill on Saturday and quickly found his best form to win the Benchmark 100 event over 1400m.
Romantic Warrior Beaten in a Thriller – Watch the Richest Race in the World
The richest race in the world was run overnight at Riyadh with the $US20million Saudi Cup (1800m) on dirt delivering a thriller with James McDonald and the ‘Pride of Hong Kong’ Romantic Warrior (IRE) going down by half a length in an epic battle with Japanese raider Forever Young.
Hero's Foals Are Rocking It!
Lauriston Park's exciting young stallion Rock Hero continue to impress with breeders keen to send their mares back to the well credentialled son of champion stallion Fastnet Rock on the strength of his foals.
Inglis Premier Preview on Sky This Monday Night
Join Caroline Searcy for an in-depth preview of the 2025 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale Monday night on Sky Thoroughbred Central from 8.30pm.
Tasmanian Yearling Sale Nicks and Links
The Magic Millions Tasmanian Yearling Sale is on Monday so here’s some of the hot nicks and links you’ll need.
Unbeaten 2YO Sunrays Leads Saturday Hellbent Metro Treble
Hellbent has been churning out the winners and had a metropolitan treble on Saturday with fleet footed two year-old filly Sunrays making it three wins on the trot when taking out the $125,000 BRC QTIS Jewel Prelude (1110m) at Doomben on Saturday.
Stakes Winner 35 for Dundeel
Dundeel sired his 35th stakes winner on Saturday when three year-old filly Deel Her In produced an impressive last to first finish in the Listed Challenge Stakes (1500m) at Ascot.