Clean sweep on cards
THE rise and rise of Rosemont Stud as a global thoroughbred breeding force continued on Saturday, with the son of Starspangledbanner, State Of Rest, winning the $5m Cox Plate.
The controversial result came after a protest from Craig Williams on gun three-yearold Anamoe was dismissed and follows the stunning Caulfield Cup victory a week earlier by Incentivise, whose sire Shamus Award also stands at the Gnarwarre farm.
Incentivise will start a short-priced favourite in the
Melbourne Cup on Tuesday week, meaning Rosemont is a genuine chance of being able to lay claim to being home of the sires of the three major winners of the spring carnival.
It is a feat Rosemont principal Anthony Mithen says he is daring to dream about, but he has also taken time to reflect on the significance of State Of Rest’s win given the ups and downs Starspangledbanner has endured as a stallion prospect.
“We’re very excited and it is an amazing achievement by the boy,” Mithen said.
“It is a great feather in the cap and we can dare to dream now that Rosemont stallions might clean sweep the big three in the Caulfield Cup, the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup.
“It is especially satisfying for Starspangledbanner to have a crowning moment like that given all of the trials and tribulations and the issues we have had with him.
“It has been a team effort that has gone into managing him and keeping him a viable commercial option and he is now a totally fertile and virile stallion who is giving breeders a great opportunity to breed a good one for not much money, so it is satisfying and it is nice to reflect on that.
“But reaching around and dislocating your shoulder giving yourself a pat on the back doesn’t get you far, so it is on to the next one.”
Shamus Award’s service fee was justifiably increased earlier in the year and following the performances of his progeny could again be set for a rise in the near future.
But Mithen said that aspect of operations would take care of itself. “There is obviously nine months’ worth of water to go under the bridge before we get to a point of worrying about next year’s season and pricing the stallions appropriately,” he said.
“You don’t want to get too carried away but I think it probably takes care of itself in a supply and demand situation.
“I would probably focus less on that and more about the satisfaction of achievement and congratulate the breeders, who have done such a good job and shown faith in our stallions, albeit State Of Rest was obviously bred in Ireland and the Shamus Award horses that are doing the job at the moment were bred while he stood at Widden Stud.
“But it does give me a real shot in the arm that we have got two really good stallions that we have put some faith into and put the Rosmeont resources behind and hopefully we can keep the ball rolling in the right direction and it is onwards and upwards from here.”