In the aftermath of a dramatic G1 Cox Plate, as stewards deliberated over a protest which threatened to overturn the result, half a world away in County Laois in Ireland, State Of Rest's breeders Dermot Cantillon and Meta Osborne waited nervously in front of their computer screen for news.
The pair, who own Tinnakill House, have experienced success as breeders on the global stage before with horses such as Alexander Goldrun (Ire) (Gold Away {Ire}), Red Evie (Ire) (Intikhab {USA}) and Casamento (Ire), while State Of Rest had won the G1 Saratoga Derby earlier this year.
But the circumstances of Saturday were quite different, especially in the aftermath of a thrilling finish, where the Joseph O'Brien-trained State Of Rest just withstood Godolphin colt Anamoe (Street Boss {USA}), before connections took it to the stewards to decide after the pair bumped with around 80 metres to go.
Dermot Cantillon and Meta Osborne
"We were very nervous. It’s not every day you have horse that you bred in the hills of Ireland that ends up at Moonee Valley. We could see he was going well in the race and as they turned for home, he took that gap and we just hoped he'd last," Cantillon told TDN AusNZ.
"Then we had the stewards' enquiry and with the angles they showed, it went on and on and I was convinced that he'd lose it. I was resigning myself to him being the moral victor but not the actual victor."
"We had the stewards' enquiry and with the angles they showed, it went on and on and I was convinced that he'd (State Of Rest) lose it." - Dermot Cantillon
On an autumn Saturday morning in Ireland, the agony of not knowing continued for 25 minutes for Cantillon and Osborne, exacerbated by the fact that COVID-restrictions meant that there was no media coverage from inside the stewards' room.
It was the Seven Network's Jason Richardson, peering through a gap in the blind, who delivered the news to the racing world that the protest had been dismissed and State Of Rest was the winner.
"I’d rather be in that position than not be. It was written in the stars, when you looked at how many horses couldn't run and all the rest of it. I had a feeling that it was going to be his year," Cantillon said.
Old mares and new ideas
The sense of destiny was born from the hard work Cantillon had put in with the pedigree, breeding not only State Of Rest, but also his dam Repose (USA) (Quiet American {USA}).
It was 14 years ago when he went to the Goffs Ireland Breeding Stock Sale and picked out Monaassabaat (USA), a 16-year-old Listed-winning daughter of Zilzal (USA), for €42,000 (AU$65,500).
"I have a reputation for buying older mares because I can't afford new ones! I bought the grandam, Monaassabaat, and she produced a stakes winner for me by Street Sense, called Prince Alzain," he said.
"I always keep a few mares in Kentucky and she was there so I bred her to Quiet American because I thought he was good value. She had a filly and I brought her back to Ireland to sell.
"I thought I might be able to give the market something a bit different, but the market didn't think so, and I had a reserve of €15,000 (AU$23,400) on her and I didn’t get it. I put her in with a pre-trainer, and he rang me and told me 'this filly has no ability', so I thought I’d breed from her."
"I put her (Repose) in with a pre-trainer, and he rang me and told me 'this filly has no ability', so I thought I’d breed from her." - Dermot Cantillon
Repose's first foal didn't make much of an impression, bur Cantillon persisted and sent her to Coolmore Ireland's Starspangledbanner in her second year.
"He's a stallion that I like. For what he cost, he can get a good runner and we had State Of Rest and the rest is history," he said.
A quality match
Cantillon describes Repose as a mare he kept 'by accident rather than by design', but that undersells the thought that went into the pedigree behind State Of Rest.
Starspangledbanner, who shuttles to Rosemont Stud in Australia, has had an incredible renaissance, with 12 stakes winners since the start of 2020. He may have been a multiple Group 1-winning sprinter-miler, but his progeny have proven adept over longer distances, especially with the influence of the more stamina-orientated Northern Hemisphere pedigrees.
Starspangledbanner | Standing at Rosemont Stud
"Quiet American, State Of Rest's damsire, would be more of a staying influence. Real Quiet, who won the Kentucky Derby, was by him," Cantillon said.
"The female line back wouldn't be sprinters either. It goes back to a very high-class taproot American mare called It’s In The Air, who was an outstanding mare. It's a really good pedigree."
"It goes back to a very high-class taproot American mare called It’s In The Air, who was an outstanding mare. It's a really good pedigree." - Dermot Cantillon
It's In The Air (USA) (Mr Propsector {USA}), State Of Rest's third dam, was a Champion Filly in the United States in the 1970s, winning five Grade 1 races. She is also an ancestress of Australian Group 1 winners Alverta (Flying Spur) and Glencadam Gold (Ire) (Refuse To Bend {USA}).
Repose remains on Tinnakill House, where from a filly that nobody wanted, she has become a mare whose progeny are in demand.
"The year before last she foaled a Dandy Man filly, who we sold at the recent Goffs Sale. He was a later foal and he got €180,000 (AU$281,000) which I was delighted with," he said.
"We rested her last year and bred her this year to Sea The Stars on an early cover."
From humble beginnings
Cantillon said while State Of Rest had been a quality foal, there weren't any obvious early signs that he would be a globetrotting Group 1 winner.
"We sold him as a foal at Tattersalls. He was nice horse, not an outstanding foal. He was a plain bay, a very good athletic horse with a good frame," he said.
"I got 45,000 (AU$83,000) sterling for him, which was an OK price without being a super price. I was lucky that Ed Player bought the horse, and he got to go to a very good farm at Whatton Manor Stud," he said.
"All of these things have to fall into place. Ed Player and Ed Sackville, the agent, bought him and he went to a good place to be raised. Then he came to the yearling sales and he was sold to Richard Ryan, who buys for Teme Valley. He sent him to Joseph, so all those little things fell into place to get him to where he is."
It is the influence of O'Brien, who at just 28 years of age, emulated his father Aidan by winning the Cox Plate, which has proven crucial to State Of Rest's development, according to his breeder.
"What you’ve seen is what you can do. Being Aidan's son, these big international races, they don't faze him because his dad has been doing that for the past 25 years," Cantillon said.
"Being Aidan's son, these big international races, they don't faze him (Joseph O'Brien) because his dad has been doing that for the past 25 years." - Dermot Cantillon
"As a jockey, he would have also ridden in a lot of these races, so he's been very ambitious from the word go. He didn't see obstacles where other people would. He's a genius to train a horse."
Genius is not a word Cantillon feels comfortable with when it comes to describing his own role in the State Of Rest success story. Persistence played a big role as did a good dose of luck, the self-effacing Irishman says.
But the rich history of Tinnakill House of producing Group 1 winners might suggest otherwise.
"I haven’t bred a Group 1 winner for about five years, but I did breed an Irish champion 2-year-old called Casamento, while another good one I bred was Red Evie, and also Alexander Goldrun, who won four Group 1s including the Hong Kong Cup at the December races there," he said.
A mare with two problems
Red Evie, a triple Group 1 winner for trainer Michael Bell, is one he is particularly fond of because of her humble beginnings and what she has been able to do as broodmare.
"I went to the sales at Kentucky and asked a good friend of mine who was selling some mares, would he have a mare with a problem? And he said, why do you want a mare with a problem? and I said, 'Well I tend to get them cheaper'," Cantillon said.
"He said, 'well I have one for you and she's got two problems. She's called Malafemmena (Italian for evil woman), because she's bad tempered and she's only got one ovary'.
"He said, 'Well I have one for you and she's got two problems. She's called Malafemmena (Italian for evil woman), because she's bad tempered and she's only got one ovary." - Dermot Cantillon
"I said that mare will suit me grand, I bought her for US$45,000 (AU$60,200) and brought her home and she lost the foal she was carrying. I had a free nom to Intikhab because of another disaster that I had, and was able to produce Red Evie."
Not only was Red Evie a star on the track, she also produced four stakes winners including the star mare Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who won the G1 Prix de l'Arc De Triomphe. She is also the grandam of this year's multiple Group 1 winner Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Ire}).
"There been a host of Group 1 winners come from that family, all for Coolmore. If I hadn't said to the guy in Kentucky, 'Have you got a mare with a problem?' there would have been no Found," Cantillon said.
