Why Repose has staked a strong early claim for broodmare of the year

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Here he looks at the latest fine results for high flying broodmare Repose - subscribers can get more great insight from Martin every Monday to Friday.

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Repose, a ten-year-old daughter of Quiet American, has staked a strong early claim to be named broodmare of the year for 2022.

First, her four-year-old son State Of Rest was sent out by Joseph O’Brien to win the Prix Ganay at Longchamp last Sunday to make it three top-flight triumphs on three different continents, after taking the Saratoga Derby and Cox Plate on his previous two starts.

The son of Starspangledbanner was sold to Ed Player and Ed Sackville for 45,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, and resold to O’Brien and Mouse O’Ryan for 60,000gns back in the same ring at Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale.

Then on Saturday his Australia three-year-old half-sister and stablemate Tranquil Lady recorded an impressive victory in the Blue Wind Stakes at Naas, causing her odds for next month’s Oaks to tumble to 7-1.

She was a €30,000 vendor buyback as a foal, but thanks to State Of Rest showing good form at two and presumably plenty of physical improvement, she sold to Richard Ryan on behalf of present owners Teme Valley Racing for £160,000 at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale.

Repose’s breeding record could also be enhanced by her two-year-old filly Double Scoop by the end of the year. The daughter of Dandy Man will be trained in the US by Anthony Dutrow, who purchased her for €180,000 at last year’s Goffs Orby fixture.

Repose was bred, and is still owned, by Tinnakill Bloodstock, and her background typifies the approach often taken by Dermot Cantillon and Meta Osborne’s operation.

The stud is renowned for producing good horses from high-class mares of advancing years, often bought for bargain sums because most other breeders have their sights set on younger names with a clean slate.

State Of Rest after winning the Prix GanayCredit: Racing Post/Scott Burton

Repose’s dam Monaassabaat was one such mare. She was a stakes-winning daughter of Zilzal and dual US champion It’s In The Air, and had already produced four winners including Listed scorer Echo River, but cost just €42,000 because she was 16 when Darley deemed her surplus to requirements at the Goffs November Breeding-Stock Sale of 2007.

Monaassabaat was taken to Kentucky by Cantillon, and produced five more foals for him – including Leicester Beat, the Refuse To Bend colt she was carrying at the time of her sale who became a winner in Japan, and Prince Alzain, a $200,000 Keeneland foal who gained Listed honours at Lingfield.

Considering those siblings’ achievements, it has been somewhat surprising that Repose has become the most significant foal bred by Cantillon from Monaassabaat.

The filly was presented as a yearling at Goffs but the fact that she is by Quiet American, the sire of North American superstars such as Real Quiet and Switch, didn’t seem to resonate with local buyers and she was brought home unsold.

She was sent into pre-training, but was deemed to be not much cop, and so was diverted straight into a breeding career instead.

She didn’t immediately excel in this sphere, either, as her debut offspring, the Holy Roman Emperor colt Dybalamask, was typical of many first foals in being unimpressive and he ended up racing in Italy after failing to change hands for just €4,500 at the Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale.

Cantillon could be forgiven for feeling thoroughly despondent at this point, but patience and persistence have paid off spectacularly. Repose has gone from busted flush to blue hen in the space of a few seasons, and she now has a Sea The Stars filly foal at foot and is safely in foal to reigning champion sire Frankel.

It was also announced this week that State Of Rest will stand his first southern hemisphere season at Newgate in Australia in 2023, and will shuttle to Rathbarry Stud in County Cork.

He promises to be an excellent addition to the Irish stallion ranks, thanks to his top-class form and toughness, as well as his prestigious pedigree.

Repose’s half-sister Angel Craft is the dam of Vintage Stakes and Royal Lodge stakes runner-up Artigiano, while Monaassabaat’s half-sisters produced celebrities Musical Chimes, Music Note and Storming Home.

It’s In The Air also features as ancestress of international Group/Grade 1 winners Alverta, Glencadam Gold and Mystic Guide, as well as recent Kilvington Stakes scorer Umm Kulthum.

State Of The Rest can even claim a distant family connection to Coroebus, as the 2,000 Guineas hero’s fifth dam Morning Has Broken was a half-sister to It’s In The Air.

State Of Rest will also be a welcome son of Starspangledbanner at stud. Coolmore’s son of Choisir continues to be a dependable source of classy horses – last week’s wide-margin Wetherby maiden winner Breege could be the latest – and his subfertile son The Wow Signal managed to get last season’s Poule d’Essai des Pouliches heroine Coeursamba among his few offspring.

On top of all that, State Of Rest and Tranquil Lady are not the only recent big-race winners who show that Quiet American can be an improving ingredient in a pedigree, as Secret Oath, another maternal grandchild of the acclaimed broodmare sire, struck in the Kentucky Oaks on Friday.

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Must-read story

“We’re delighted to get her, she’s a standout mare and we want to buy the best mares for Home Affairs,” said Coolmore Australia’s Tom Magnier after buying dual Group 1 heroine Shout The Bar for A$2.7m at Inglis.

Pedigree pick

Mark and Charlie Johnston unleash a full-sibling to a Group 1 winner in Monday's five-furlong two-year-old maiden at Musselburgh (1.45).

Jungle Fever is by Bungle Inthejungle out of Titian Saga, a winning daughter of Titus Livius, making him a brother to last year’s Nunthorpe heroine Winter Power as well as a half-brother to smart sprinters Hay Chewed and Flying Sparkle.

He was bred by Patrick Burns’ Newlands House Stud, who bought Titian Saga’s dam Nordic Living for Ir1,200gns at Goffs in 1995 despite her having been well-beaten on all her four starts. Burns also bred the classy trio of Devonshire, Hurryupharriet and Veneer Of Charm out of Titian Saga’s half-sister Nova Tor.

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