Newgate and partners celebrate Ascot success with State Of Rest
Joseph O’Brien-trained Cox Plate winner claims fourth Group 1 victory in Prince Of Wales’s Stakes after tactical affair
If day one belonged to the superstar Chris Waller-trained Nature Strip (Nicconi), Royal Ascot’s second day was all about the Newgate Farm and partners-owned State Of Rest (Starspangledbanner) when he prevailed in a tactical race to land yesterday’s Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f). Australians again showed their power on the world stage, this time through their might in the bloodstock market.
The Joseph O’Brien-trained State Of Rest, acquired by Newgate in partnership with Rathbarry Stud and a consortium of Australian-based owners, lead all the way to deny the fast-finishing odds-on favourite Bay Bridge (New Bay) and defeat what was a select group of four internationally-sourced rivals vying for the contest.
Wearing the red-and-yellow Newgate/China Horse Club colours with the Hunter Valley stud’s logo emblazoned across the front, the Shane Crosse-ridden State Of Rest set steady fractions out in front, with Japanese raider and two-time elite-level winner Shahryar (Deep Impact) stalking in second.
But the race, as with Nature Strip’s demolition job of the King’s Stand Stakes on Tuesday when American horse Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) missed the start, was not without early drama as the John and Thady Gosden-trained Lord North (Dubawi), winner of the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes in 2020, was left standing in the gates after the blindfold was not removed from the three-time Group 1-winning six-year-old, leaving him trailing several lengths behind his rivals.
With the race effectively reduced to four, a tactical affair ensued and as Crosse and State And Rest ramped through the gears turning into the straight, there was nothing the closing Bay Bridge could do to close the gap, with State Of Rest holding the favourite by a length.
The French-trained Grand Glory (Olympic Glory) finished third, three and a quarter lengths from the winner, while Shahryar, nullified by the slower pace set, finished fourth and Lord North trailed home seven lengths from State Of Rest in fifth.
Victory for State Of Rest earned him a fourth Group 1 success in four different countries, as the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) winner added to victories in the Saratoga Derby (Gr 1, 9.5f) and most recently in the Prix Ganay (Gr 1, 2100m) to secure a second Australian success at Royal Ascot this week.
“It was a brilliant ride on a very tough horse. It couldn’t have worked out better and I thought Shane gave him a marvellous ride, and he is a top horse as well,” said O’Brien, who rode So You Think (High Chaparral) to success in the 2012 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, but secured his first Royal Ascot victory as a trainer in yesterday’s renewal.
“It is very special. It has been a long time coming, but we have had plenty of horses run well here and it is very special to get a winner here, and not just a winner, but to win a race like the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes is hugely special.
“He has a great team of owners and he is a special horse. He has proved himself a high-class horse. He is very versatile and we knew coming here that he had a live chance to win the race and I am just delighted the horse has proved himself.”
It was a vintage ride from Crosse, who rode State Of Rest to Prix Ganay victory in France, but secured his biggest success to date in the feature race on yesterday’s Royal Ascot card.
“The plan, speaking to Joseph this morning and it being a small field, was not to complicate it. From our draw [in stall one] we thought it was the best way of winning. Fair play to the horse – he showed what he’s all about today.
“In the space of the last 12 months he’s done a lot and that’s credit to the team who look after him. I’m over the moon. This is an absolute dream – there’s no other way to describe it.”
Henry Field and Newgate Farm, along with Ireland’s Rathbarry Stud and a group of 21 other southern hemisphere-based owners, purchased State Of Rest after his scintillating victory in last year’s Cox Plate, with the colt now presenting a valuable dual hemisphere stud prospect for his cohort of stakeholders.
Field and partners’ desire to secure a middle-distance stud prospect lead the group to go after the winner of Australia’s premier weight-for-age contest, the Cox Plate, a race which has a prolific record for producing successful stallions.
State Of Rest, a son of Australian Group 1-winning sprinter Starspangledbanner (Choisir), has now won five of his 12 starts and has an entry for the Coral-Eclipse (Gr 1, 1m 2f) at Sandown next month, for which he was trimmed to 14-1, and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m) in October.
He was a 60,000gns buy for O’Brien and Aidan O’Ryan from Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, having been traded as a weanling for 45,000gns when sold by breeders Tinnakill House, who feature within the new ownership group.