2021 Cox Plate Hero Wins G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes

Tara Madgwick - Wednesday June 15

Aussies had more reasons to celebrate after the second day of Royal Ascot overnight with the now Australian owned Starspangledbanner stallion State of Rest (IRE) capturing the Group I Prince of Wales’s Stakes (1m2f)  and it’ not the first time a Cox Plate winner has won the race with So You Think triumphant in 2012.

State of Rest is a Royal Ascot G1 winner - image Ascot Racecourse Twitter

Trained by Joseph O’Brien for an ownership group that includes Newgate Farm and partners, State of Rest improved from his last start third in the Group I Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh to lead all the way and win.

With a small field of five to run in the featured event and a tactical race anticipated, Shane Crosse took luck out of the equation when going to the front to dictate terms. He set an even tempo with race favourite Bay Bridge unable to catch State of Rest, who scored by a length.

“We take it race by race but we really wanted the lead today and we thought that if he got the lead we had a great chance to win,'' said Joseph O’Brien.

“He’s a very tough horse and he’s a very hard horse to go past. We knew he’d be fighting hard at the line. Shane executed it perfectly.”

State of Rest has now won four Group I races in four different countries – Australia (Cox Plate), USA (Saratoga Derby Invitational) and France (Prix Ganay).

Advertisement

With five wins and four placings from 12 starts, State of Rest is the best of 23 stakes-winners by Choisir’s champion son Starspangledbanner, who was also a Royal Ascot hero winning the Group I Golden Jubilee Stakes in 2010.

State of Rest is a half-brother to this year’s Group III winning 3YO filly Tranquil Lady from an international family packed with Black Type. His third dam is Champion US 3YO Filly It’s In The Air, who has spawned an impressive dynasty of stakes-winners.

Newgate Farm have a dazzling array of speed sires on their stallion roster headed by Extreme Choice, Capitalist and Deep Field, but in State of Rest have acquired a world class middle distance horse to add another string to their bow.

Given the past record of success enjoyed by Cox Plate winning sires So You Think, Shamus Award, Ocean Park and Savabeel, there must be great optimism surrounding the future stallion potential of State of Rest.

Advertisment
More Reading...
Sires With Winners - Saturday October 25
Here is the full list of 136 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Hi Yo Sass Bomb Wins G3 on Sunday
Kim Reid bypassed a Group One in favour of Sunday’s Gr.3 Gee and Hickton Funeral Directors Thompson Handicap (1600m) at Trentham with Hi Yo Sass Bomb, a decision that paid dividends when the mare led from the outset to claim her third stakes success.
Yes Yes Yes 3YO Shooting for G2 on Monday
Last year’s Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) set Savaglee up for Group One glory in Christchurch, and Matamata trainer Pam Gerard is hoping to follow a similar blueprint in 2025 with her Yes Yes Yes 3YO Affirmative Action..
Wootton Bassett Colt Leads Coolmore G1 Trifecta
The last British Group I race of the flat season was run overnight at Doncaster with Aidan O’Brien producing a trifecta of two year-old colts led by a son of the late Wootton Bassett (GB) in Hawk Mountain, who was too good for a pair of Frankel colts.
Sires With Winners - Friday October 24
Here is the full list of 60 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Sale Cup Winner Adds to Fastnet Rock Super Weekend
It’s been quite the weekend for the late great champion sire Fastnet Rock with a Cox Plate quinella on Saturday and then on Sunday he produced a new stakes-winner when seven year-old gelding El Rocko captured the $200,000 Listed Sale Cup (1600m).
Second Wootton Bassett Son Added to Coolmore Stallion Roster for 2026
Set to join Camille Pissarro as the second G1 winning son of Wootton Bassett on the stallion roster for Ireland in 2026 is Henri Matisse, who this time last year was about to claim his first G1 victory at the Breeders Cup meeting at Del Mar.
A Century of NZB National Yearling Sales Success: Cox Plate
Moonee Valley’s A$6m Group One WS Cox Plate (2040m) is known as the weight-for-age championship of Australasia and has been won by many of Australia and New Zealand’s greatest thoroughbreds.
Pedigree Watch - Powerhouse Godolphin 3YOs Dominate
The current crop of three year-olds running for Godolphin lay claim to being the best they have ever produced in Australia and three of those colts won Group races in Australia on Saturday so let’s take a look at those pedigrees.
Early Return Home for Cogburn
Group I winning Not This Time son Cogburn (USA) will return to WinStar Farm in Kentucky earlier than planned after disappointing fertility results during his first Australian covering season at Widden Stud.