Paardeberg Stud’s well-performed resident stallion Expert Eye hit the headlines on Thursday when his two-year-old son Rock Hunter made a winning debut at Chantilly.
Sent off the 29-10 joint-second favourite for Thursday’s Prix du Premier Pas, Rock Hunter raced behind the leaders early. Getting a seam up the rail to lead approaching the final furlong, the 32,000 Goffs UK Premier graduate drew away to score by three lengths from Nuit De L’Homme.
Rock Hunter, who holds entries for both the Weatherbys Super Sprint Stakes and Harry’s Half Million by Goffs Premier Yearling Stakes, is out of the Dutch Art mare Parknasilla

Expert Eye himself showed high-class form at two, winning two of three starts as a juvenile, including the prestigious G2 Qatar Vintage Stakes by four and a half lengths.
He would prove himself even better at three when Expert Eye downed a top-class field to claim the 2018 G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile convincingly. He also won the Group 3 Jersey and City of York Stakes at three and also placed at G1 level in the Sussex Stakes and Prix du Moulin.
The bay, whose relatives include champion and high-class sire Chief’s Crown among many others, stands his first season in South Africa this year for a fee of R25 000.