IN 2004, Mark Kavanagh spent $195,000 on a Zabeel colt at the 2004 Easter Yearling Sale and secured a champion in Maldivian, reports the Sunday Age.It says: Last year, he spent a little less at $180,000 at the same sale and bought a Fastnet Rock colt now named We're Gonna Rock who, on yesterday's impressive debut win in the Fiesta Star Handicap (1000 metres) at Flemington, has the potential to help fill the void left by Maldivian's recent retirement.Two weeks ago at Caulfield, the Mick Price-tra

IN 2004, Mark Kavanagh spent $195,000 on a Zabeel colt at the 2004 Easter Yearling Sale and secured a champion in Maldivian, reports the Sunday Age.

It says: Last year, he spent a little less at $180,000 at the same sale and bought a Fastnet Rock colt now named We're Gonna Rock who, on yesterday's impressive debut win in the Fiesta Star Handicap (1000 metres) at Flemington, has the potential to help fill the void left by Maldivian's recent retirement.

Two weeks ago at Caulfield, the Mick Price-trained Marconi was labelled as racing's next boom horse after scoring a very easy win but he proved no match for We're Gonna Rock, with Kavanagh showing off yet another highly talented galloper.

Marconi was the odds-on favourite but drifted from $1.60 to start at $1.85. We're Gonna Rock had solid support, firming from $3.10 into $3 and justified Kavanagh's confidence with a highly impressive win.

''It's hard to keep a lid on it right now. That was a very exciting win. He's a smart horse this horse,'' a beaming Kavanagh said after the race.

Such was Kavanagh's belief in We're Gonna Rock that he said he was not concerned when the son of Fastnet Rock was giving his rivals an eight-length start as they came on to the course proper.

After jockey Michael Rodd gave him a couple of cuts with the whip, he quickly got his mind on the job and mowed down his rivals, running some sensational sectional splits over the second half of the race.

He ran his last 600 metres in 31.82 seconds, 400 metres in 21.35 and the final 200 metres in 11.07, defeating Marconi by one-and-a-quarter lengths, with the handy Sydney visitor Winter King a further length and a quarter away in third.

''I rode him on the first day when he came back into the stable this campaign and was just cantering around on him, he felt something special. He's just got a great motor, a massive engine,'' Rodd said.

Kavanagh said We're Gonna Rock had never won a trial but he had always had a big opinion of him. After taking some time to mature, the trainer will now look to run him in some better races in the autumn.

''I think we'll probably give him another run and then ease up on him before giving him a go at a race like the [group 1] Australian Guineas in the autumn,'' Kavanagh said.