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An historic Group One win in New York by Irish mare Zhukova has capped a big weekend for champion sire Fastnet Rock at home and abroad.

The Dermot Weld-trained Zhukova, an Irish-bred 5YO daughter of Fastnet Rock, became the first mare in 30 years to win the G1 Man O’War Stakes, one of America’s major turf events, at Belmont Park on Saturday.

Zhukova, ridden by John Velazquez, trounced her male rivals by eight lengths in the $400,000 event over 11 furlongs in her first US start.

“She gives you so much confidence," said Velazquez.

"I knew she was going to break great and be right there. She handled the grass really well and coming from Europe you could tell she was used to this type of surface.

“When I asked her to run down the lane she had another gear."

Zhukova accelerated through the lane under a hand ride to beat Taghleeb and Sadler's Joy for her seventh win from 10 starts.

Winner of the Noblesse Stakes in Ireland at her previous start on April 15, Zhukova was bred by Dermot Weld’s wife and is out of the Galileo mare Nightime and was retained after she was passed in at the 2013 Tattersalls October yearling sale.

She gave Weld his first Belmont victory since 2003 when he won the G1 Flower Bowl Invitational with Dimitrova.

Mark Weld, assistant trainer to his father, said Zhukova was likely to return to America later in the year for the Breeders Cup.

"She'll come home now but the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf would be a definite possibility to finish off the year,” Weld said.

“She's a true European Grade 1 mare. She's a homebred; we've had her since she was a foal bred by my grandmother.

“This is huge for us. We have a lot to look forward to."

Imperious - Dermot Weld's Zhukova gives her rivals a good beating at Belmont Park in the Grade 1 Man o' War Stakes: pic.twitter.com/hmxs0PFjsk

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 13, 2017

Zhukova is out of 2006 Irish One Thousand Guineas winner Nightime, a daughter of Caumshinaun (Indian Ridge).

Zhukova is is a half sister to New Year’s Night, a Raven’s Pass colt sold for 800,000 guineas to Godolphin’s John Ferguson at the 2012 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Ferguson also signed for Zhukova’s half-sister Midnight Fair (Raven’s Pass) for 450,000 guineas at the 2015 Tattersall’s October sale and her 2YO half-brother Pitch Dark (Dubawi) for €1.1 million as a Goffs November weanling.

The youngest offspring out of Nightime is a yearling filly by Zoffany.

Closer to home Fastnet Rock has a classy Group prospect in hius impressive filly Miss Debutante, a brilliant winner of the Listed Denise’s Joy Stakes at Scone on Saturday.

Miss Debutante (Fastnet Rock x More Than Ready, by More Than Ready) claimed her first Black Type win for trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.

She has now won four of her six starts and more than $176,000 prizemoney after costing $430,000 as an Easter yearling sale purchase by Paul Moroney Bloodstock for New Zealand’s Sir Owen Glenn.

Miss Debutante, the 115th stakes-winner by Fastnet Rock, is out of the US-bred G2 winner More Than Real and is the third stakes-winner bred on the cross of Fastnet Rock with a daughter of More Than Ready.