State Of Rest’s winning streak might have ended in Sunday night’s Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh, but his performance did little to dampen connections’ enthusiasm for Royal Ascot.
Last year’s Cox Plate winner enhanced his status as a genuine contender for the Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (2014m) on Day 2 of the carnival with a strong third placing, beaten around half-a-length, in the 2115-metre Group 1 race won by Alenquer.
The Joseph O’Brien-trained son of Starspangledbanner now counts Australian and New Zealand owners among his connections after a Newgate Farm-led consortium bought into him after his Cox Plate success and Newgate managing director Henry Field was delighted with the run.
“It was a big run, a really good run and he couldn’t have had a better prep run going into Royal Ascot in a few weeks,” Field said.
“Joseph was very happy with him, he’ll have his Grand Final for the summer in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes in a few weeks and I think Joseph thinks he’s right on song.”
State Of Rest is in to $8 in TAB’s Prince Of Wales’s market after the performance. Baaeed and Shahryar head the compressed market at $5 with Adayar ($6), Mishriff ($6.50), Alenquer ($7), Moshtahdaf ($7) and Lord North ($8) all at single-figure odds.
The Tattersalls Gold Cup effort was the entire’s first defeat in 11 months, having won the Group 1 Derby Invitational Stakes (1913m) the start before the Cox Plate, while his first start for the Newgate team was a win in the Group 1 Prix Ganay (2115m) at Longchamp earlier this month.
“He’s run four in Group 1s in four different countries at his last four starts and run massively in each and every one of them,” Field said.
“He’s a very special animal and he’s got a big season ahead.”
Following the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, State Of Rest will be prepared for a return tilt at the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on October 22.