Rock Of Gibraltar, winner of a record-breaking seven successive Group One races, has been retired to Coolmore Stud.
The three-year-old colt, trained by Aidan O'Brien, made history when he won the NetJets Prix du Moulin at Longchamp in September to overtake the great Mill Reef's record of six victories at the highest level in 1971-1972. Winner of 10 of his 13 starts, 'The Rock' as he became known, amassed a total of £1,269,800 in win and place money, of which £1,100,230 was from his victories.
The fee has yet to be decided but industry sources suggest that it could be 100,000 euros. The horse is to stand in Ireland despite intense pressure from breeders especially those in America following his excellent Breeders' Cup Mile run.
Rock Of Gibraltar's winning run came to a slightly controversial end when he was beaten by Domedriver at Arlington last month with many pundits criticising jockey Michael Kinane for giving his mount too much to do. However, that reverse should not take away anything from the glittering career of a colt that helped bring closer ties between horse racing and football for he carried the red and white colours of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. He bought a share of the horse halfway through his two-year-old campaign that had given hardly any hint of the heights he was to achieve.
Filed by James Boylan.
