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...
Juvenile Trial Watch – Caulfield
Three barrier trials at Caulfield on Thursday morning produced heat winners for first season sires Wild Ruler and Profiteer with the quickest winner being Free Flying, the half-sister by Snitzel to brilliant Group winning mare Learning to Fly.
New SW Wrote - Fast Network Wins G3 National Day Cup
Trainer Dennis Yip claimed a timely first win of the 2025/26 season, taking out the feature HK$4.2 million Gr.3 National Day Cup Handicap (1000m) at Sha Tin’s National Day fixture on Wednesday when his stable star Fast Network, a New Zealand bred son of Wrote, blitzed a strong field under Alexis Badel.
Autumn Glow Epsom Challenge - Just How Big Is This Task?
With the unbeaten Autumn Glow set to run as the first odds-on favourite this century in the Epsom Handicap on Saturday we thought we’d run some data to see how big this mountain is that she’s attempting to climb, and turns out, it’s pretty big.
Magic Trials at Caulfield Heath
Early season two-year-olds will step out this Thursday, 2 October, at the Caulfield Spring Trials presented by Magic Millions, with 800m 2YO heats following the opening trial for Group performers at 7:30am on the Caulfield Heath.
NZ Derby Hero Willydoit Primed for Epsom
Last season’s New Zealand Derby hero Willydoit will step back into the spotlight on Saturday when he contests the Gr.1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick for trainer Ciaron Maher, with jockey Tommy Berry bullish the horse is ready to make his mark over the famous mile.
Milan Park Experience Highs and Lows
Tony Rider experienced the extreme highs and lows of breeding thoroughbreds within a matter of hours on Wednesday.
Sires With Winners - Wednesday October 1
Here is the full list of 49 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
One to Watch – Geelong
Trilogy Racing will have high hopes for the their talented filly Queen of Clubs in the Group I ATC Flight Stakes on Saturday and their colours were in the frame at Geelong on Thursday carried by a Zoustar filly that saluted on debut.
Inglis Ready2Race breeze up footage NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE
Progeny of the likes of Toronado, Exceed and Excel, Harry Angel, Zoustar and Ole Kirk were amongst the standout performers from breeze up sessions conducted this week in the lead up to the Inglis Ready2Race Sale on October 16, footage of which is now available online.
Melody Belle Daughter Set for Long Awaited Debut
It will be a full-circle moment for Te Akau Racing at The Valley on Friday night when Lyrics ‘N’ Song, a daughter of their former multiple Group One winner Melody Belle, makes her debut.