State of Rest

And on we go, to a sector of the market that will have great appeal to the shrewd and smaller breeders (you can certainly be both), with the next part of our Value Sires series devoted to those standing in the bracket of £7,500 to £14,999 (approximately €8,500 to €17,000).  There are always deals to be struck in the stallion market, and perhaps that is especially true within the lower price tiers, where your bartering power may also depend on your previous support of a particular stallion or stud, and...

The cliche is that it only takes 40 years to become an overnight success.  Obviously it can never take that long for a horse but Starspangledbanner could be forgiven for thinking something along those lines as he ends 2025 with his status at an all-time high. There were several notable aspects to this year's Cartier Awards, most notably the happy situation that all bar one of the winners will still be in training in 2026. Another stand-out feature was that both the Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (Gstaad) and the Champion Two-Year-Old...

Rathbarry Stud has announced the 2026 fees for its four stallions, with the newcomer Unquestionable, successful in the 2023 edition of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, being introduced at €10,000. The son of the late Wootton Bassett is joined at Rathbarry by the multiple top-level winner State Of Rest, whose first yearlings have sold for up to 300,000gns. State Of Rest has had his fee reduced to €15,000 (from €20,000), while Kodi Bear, the sire of this year's unbeaten G2 Gimcrack Stakes scorer Lifeplan, has been clipped from €15,000...

KILDARE, IRELAND - Bloodstock agents Richard Ryan and Federico Barberini provided the entertainment at Goffs on Wednesday when going hammer and tongs on a State Of Rest filly consigned by Castlebridge, who went the way of the latter for €150,000. Ryan opened the bidding at €50,000 on the State Of Rest filly and, despite making one last lunge at auctioneer Andrew Nolan before the hammer fell, his instruction on the phone came too late and he was forced to fill the runner-up spot on the most expensive lot sold on...

Windermere Stud, which is run by Australian native Janine Gandy and Pierre-Hugues Henry, enjoyed a successful consigning debut at the Arqana July Sale with nine lots selling for an aggregate of €396,000 and an average price of €44,000. That debut draft included a €135,000 Doctor Dino gelding. The pair is hoping to build on that dream debut when consigning a Pinatubo colt [lot 122] and filly from the first crop of State Of Rest [231] at the August Sale at Arqana. The Pinatubo colt is out of a sister to...

A Sea The Stars (Ire) sister to globetrotting sensation State Of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) found a fitting suitor at the Goffs Orby Sale with Joseph O'Brien, the man who trained that Tinnakill House graduate to win at the highest level in America, Australia, Britain and France, going to €750,000 to secure the star attraction on Tuesday.  Tinnakill House has enjoyed the ride of a lifetime with the family of State Of Rest having signed for the granddam of the four-time Group 1 winner, Monaassabaat (Zilzal), at the Goffs November...

The GI Saratoga Derby Invitational, slated for Saturday, Aug. 5 at Saratoga, will offer the winner an automatic berth into the G1 Ladbrokes Cox Plate, the New York Racing Association, Inc. and Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC) announced Wednesday. The new partnership will provide the winner of the Saratoga Derby, a 1 3/16-mile test for sophomores, a place in the starting gate for the Ladbrokes Cox Plate Oct. 28 at Moonee Valley in Victoria, Australia, with winning connections afforded subsidies for transportation and accommodation. In 2021, the Joseph O'Brien-trained State...

In a little over a decade, Henry Field has built Newgate into one of the leading stallion operations in Australia and a force to be reckoned with on the international thoroughbred playing field.    Foxwedge got the stallion arm of the operation up and running in 2012 and, since then, the roster has grown exponentially, with Capitalist and Extreme Choice some of the more recent additions to the farm.    In this week's Q&A, Field explained the key principals that helped him build Newgate into what it is today, discussed...

As we approach the opening of the 2023 breeding sheds, the TDN staff is once again sitting down with leading breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why. The China Horse Club's Christie DeBernardis, Matt Houldsworth and Michael Smith clued us in on which sires they have chosen for some of their top American and European mares. ALBEROBELLO (m, 8, Bernardini—Carson Jen, by Carson City), booked to Justify Alberobello hails from a very deep family that is constantly improving. Her full-sister's daughter Key to...

Four-time Group 1 winner State Of Rest will stand for €25,000 in his debut season at Rathbarry Stud. He will also cover in the southern hemisphere at Henry Field's Newgate Stud.  The Starspangledbanner (Aus) colt, who was bred by Tinnakill Bloodstock, won three Group/Grade 1 contests in as many different continents under the management of Joseph O'Brien.  State Of Rest opened his account at the highest level when storming to Saratoga Derby glory in New York last year. He confirmed his reputation as a globetrotting superstar when taking the Cox...

The makers of the popular BBC programme Country File could easily film a riveting episode just within the 700 acres of Nottinghamshire countryside that is Whatton Manor Stud. The farm is home to Longhorn cattle and rare breeds such as Wensleydale sheep and Suffolk Punch horses. But its main business is of course the breeding and rearing of thoroughbreds, something the Player family has done increasingly well in the 40 years since Peter Player inherited the farm from his aunt. An inheritance of a plot of such rich land deep...

Joseph O'Brien has revealed that State Of Rest has been retired to stud after Racing Victoria found an issue in an MRI scan that would prevent him travelling to Australia to defend his Cox Plate crown.  The four-time Group/Grade 1 hero was last seen finishing down the field in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville and the O'Brien team feel that the issue that presented itself in the MRI scan was to blame for that poor performance.  State Of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}--Repose {Quiet American}) shot to prominence when...