AUSTRALIAN champion sire Fastnet Rock (by Danehill) has had a tremendous year in European racing and it was good news to see that he will return to Coolmore Stud in 2016.

His oldest Irish-conceived progeny are four years old and that first local crop includes the notable colts Fascinating Rock and Cougar Mountain, with the Group 1-winning fillies Diamondsandrubies and Qualify in his second.

Despite his obvious talent it was only nine days ago that Cougar Mountain recorded his first pattern success, and with his pedigree that Group 3 Invesco Pension Consultants Desmond Stakes victory will have boosted his chance of a place at stud whenever his racing days end. Third to Solow and Esoterique in the Group 1 Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Ascot in June, and with a long list of big-race entries that includes the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in October, he is a half-brother to several multiple winners but out of an unraced mare whose siblings include two major sires.

Cougar Mountain is trained by Aidan O’Brien and he was bred by O’Brien’s Whisperview Trading Ltd. His dam Descant (by Nureyev) has a string of blacktype siblings, but the most eye-catching of them are the juvenile champion and brilliant 2000 Guineas hero Zafonic (by Gone West) and his pattern-winning full-brother Zamindar.

Zafonic was only 12 when he died, but he left us with Group 1 scorers such as Count Dubois, Xaar, Zafeen, and Zee Zee Top, and while the first three of those have sired blacktype horses at stud, Zee Zee Top is the dam of the dual Group 1 star Izzi Top (by Pivotal) and of the talented Jazzi Top (by Danehill Dancer) who won the Group 2 Prix de la Nonette at Deauville on Tuesday.

Zafonic is also responsible for Trade Fair, whose progeny include the millionaire and Grade 1-winning miler Trade Storm, and, of course, the Darley stallion Iffraaj.

That Group 1-placed triple Group 2 scorer is the sire of five Group 1 winners, up to Monday night, and they include the successful 2015 freshman sire Wootton Bassett. Zamindar has only 22 known yearlings and covered just one mare in 2014, but he is the sire of the undefeated Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Zarkava, of the classic and triple Group 1-winning miler Darjina, and plenty of others of note including Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary scorer Coquerelle, and of Kingman’s (by Invincible Spirit) classic-winning dam Zenda.

Of course, Zafonic and Zamindar are not the only big names in the family as their pattern-winning dam Zaizafon (by The Minstrel) was a half-sister to Modena (by Roberto), and that mare gave us the Group 1 stars Elmaamul (by Diesis) and Reams Of Verse (by Nureyev) as well as the dam of the prolific Group 1 celebrity Midday (by Oasis Dream).

Cougar Mountain was rated 119 before this week’s York meeting, and so has some way to go yet to prove himself as capable a racehorse as some of his relatives were, but with his pedigree, and with the right opportunities, he could sire some progeny who are at least as talented as he is.