“Double Whammy” for Thompson and Tinnakill Crowns Unforgettable Monday

Most Mondays are utterly forgettable. Not in the case of Ian Thompson, manager at Tinnakill House Stud who, along with his boss Dermot Cantillon, kick-started the week in style after Dornoch Castle (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), bred by the pair, confirmed himself a hugely promising colt in winning unchallenged at Ayr. 

Shortly after Dornoch Castle coasted home to win for the second time from as many outings, his trainer Mark Johnston revealed that he has some major ambitions for the 2-year-old, mainly the G2 Vintage S. at Goodwood. 

If you thought things couldn't get any better for Thompson and all of the team at Tinnakill, you thought wrong, because this Monday was about to go from memorable to unforgettable.

As if it were written in the stars, just a few hours later, Dornoch Castle's half-brother Claim The Crown (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), who Thomson and Tinakill also bred, landed the feature handicap at Ripon. 

All of this excitement was provided by Crown Light (GB) (Zamindar), a mare that Cantillon acquired for just 800gns at the Tattersalls Autumn horses-in-training sale in 2013, and the 11-year-old hasn't missed a breeding season on the farm ever since.

Speaking after the success of Dornoch Castle, a 30,000 euros Goffs Sportsman's purchase, Thompson sensed something special could be in store, and said, “Funnily enough, his [Dornoch Castle's] half-brother Claim The Crown runs this evening so it could be a double whammy. He has been very well-backed so it could be one of those days. Let's hope so.”

It certainly was one of those days. A Monday that Thompson and the team will never forget. But the most exciting aspect of it all is that there will be even bigger days ahead, especially in the case of Dornoch Castle. 

“It's exciting,” said Thompson. “The great thing about him is that he's bred to get better. He was a fine big horse when he was younger so everything about him would suggest that this is only the beginning for him. 

“The female pedigree would be a middle-distance one and you wouldn't really imagine her to be having lots of 2-year-old winners so it makes it even more exciting.”

He added, “This is what it's all about. The buzz before the race and the excitement after he won. You can't beat it–it's what we do it for.”

This wasn't the only momentous moment for those associated with Crown Light. Less than four years after Cantillon bought the mare, her half-sister Bateel (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) won the G1 Prix Vermeille. But that's not to say that Crown Light has not been hanging onto the coattail of her half-sister. 

She has proved herself worthy of an upgrade in terms of the quality of stallion she has visited every season and a decision to support up-and-coming sire Gleneagles (Ire) is proving to be an inspired one with his son Dornoch Castle emerging as a smart prospect for the Johnston team. 

Thompson explained, “We thought Gleneagles was a good young sire and everyone was crying out for a nice son of Galileo (Ire). He was the one with the best credentials and it was a commercial decision to back a young son of Galileo who we thought was going to click. 

“She also has an Australia (GB) filly foal and is back in foal to Acclamation (GB). Dermot bought four horses at the horses-in-training sale in 2013, all for relatively small money, and she was just 800gns. She had a decent pedigree but wouldn't have been the best physical.”

He added, “Since we bought her, though, her half-sister [Bateel] won a Group 1 in France so we got the mother of all pedigree updates. Not only that, she has produced stock who look a lot better than she does and, as a result, she has been getting upgraded matings every year. Her progeny are delivering on the racetrack and she's really clicked now so it's very exciting.

“She's very fertile. She's had a foal every single year since she was a 3-year-old. That's the one thing you can't really put a price on when you are buying from the horses-in-training sale as you've no idea how fertile they will turn out to be. It's all down to luck.

“I am involved with seven or eight mares now at this stage. I own a few of them myself but am in partnerships with either Dermot or somebody else with the rest. She's the best of them by a mile.”

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Revelation And Vindication – The Story Behind Brilliant Broodmare Repose

Few broodmares carry a more impressive combination than Repose (Quiet American), who landed a left and right hook with State Of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) and Tranquil Lady (Ire) (Australia {GB}), and she's far from finished after it was announced this week that she would be joining the Juddmonte broodmare band after a deal was struck with Tinnakill House Stud.

Dermot Cantillon, the man behind Tinnakill, of which Group 1 winners Alexander Goldrun, Red Evie, Casamento and more recently State Of Rest are graduates, revealed that the Repose story is as much about vindication as it is revelation.

It was a November day in 2007 when Cantillon put his shoulders back and took a punt on a then 17-year-old mare called Monaassabaat (Zilzal).

According to Cantillon, she ticked a lot of the right boxes, being by a stallion with brilliance and from an exceptional family.

The one drawback, although Cantillon didn't see it that way, was her age, which may explain why he secured the mare for just €42,000.

Monaassabaat is a proven producer of black-type performers, including Prince Alzain (Street Sense) and Echo River (Irish River {Fr}), but it is Repose, who never managed to make it to the track, who has put the pedigree in lights.

They say the secret to becoming an overnight success is a lifetime of hard work and, in Cantillon's case, nurturing the bloodlines of the globetrotting star State Of Rest and genuine Oaks contender Tranquil Lady began when he took a punt on a mare that many others would have deemed too old back in 2007.

“The fundamentals we adhere to are strong,” Cantillon explained. “We always try and get into female families where the black-type is substantial and of good quality. That particular family featured one of the best mares ever in America, It's In The Air (Mr. Prospector) and we bought her daughter, Monaassabaat, quite cheaply.

“When we bred Repose, she was owned in partnership with Pat and Kim Hayes, who worked for me at the time, and I subsequently bought out the share. I bought Monaassabaat from Darley at Goffs in 2007. She was a Maktoum Al Maktoum-owned mare and, if you were to look down through the pedigree, it was a fantastic family, so that was a big attraction for me.”

He added, “I remember Monaassabaat because I was mad about Zilzal and, if memory serves me correct, she may have been the first stakes winner by Zilzal. I thought he had brilliance as a sire and was a Nureyev horse so, in my mind, it was ticking boxes.

“At the time I bought her, I had just purchased a farm in Kentucky and I thought she would be a very good mare to have over there given she had a strong American pedigree. We sent her over there and, out of her, we bred Prince Alzain, who was the first stakes winner for Street Sense.”

Repose never made it to the sales in America but, thinking he might have something different to offer potential buyers in Ireland, Cantillon elected to roll the dice at the Orby Sale at Goffs in 2013, but she failed to sell.

Acknowledging his luck, Cantillon recalled, “She held entries in the November Foal Sales at Keeneland in 2012 and was also entered in the sales at Keeneland the following January but she didn't attend either of those because I didn't think I would get much for her.

“I decided to bring her back to Ireland and offer her at the Goffs Orby Sale thinking she would be a bit different but she didn't sell. I had 10 yearlings that year and I sold nine but couldn't sell her.”

He added, “In actual fact, I sold Chicago Dancer (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}), whose first yearling made 1 million gns, so it wasn't a bad consignment looking back at it now.”

After failing to sell as a yearling, Repose was put into training before it was reported that she wouldn't make it as a racehorse and, while her first foal–as they often can be–was disappointing, she has quickly earned revelationary status as a broodmare.

Cantillon explained, “She has been an outstanding producer from two very different sires in Starspangledbanner and Australia. When you watch a horse that you have bred go on to win a race, it's like having a winner of your own without the expenses, and we have been given huge pleasure by State Of Rest. In fact, one of the greatest thrills of my life was watching him winning the Cox Plate.”

The State Of Rest story may never have been written had Cantillon not been prepared to take on an older mare but, along with the help of his wife Meta Osborne, an industry-renowned vet, it has been an avenue the stud have enjoyed huge success with down through the years.

Cantillon said, “Monaassabaat was 17 when we bought her. If you get a foal that looks the part out of an older mare, the chances are that it is the part. What happens with older mares, a lot of them are bred to first-season sires, who are unproven and chances are that one out of 10 of those sires will be good. There's a big bias with mares as they get older. When they are young, they tend to get bred to more proven sires, so of course they are going to produce much better horses.

“Meta is very good at what she does and treats mares as individuals. She thinks about them a lot and is at the cutting edge of managing older mares. We don't put ourselves under massive pressure with regards to expectations either. If we buy a mare who is 15 years' of age or older, we would be thinking that if we could get them in foal every second year, that would be good. We'd love to get them in foal every year but don't get too disheartened if we don't.”

Repose joined Juddmonte in foal to Frankel (GB), with Cantillon retaining a Sea The Stars (Ire) filly foal alongside Sunderland Holdings, although a decision has yet to be made on whether she will be offered at public auction as a foal or a yearling.

In the meantime, the pedigree could be set for yet another boost, with State Of Rest bidding for his first Group 1 on home shores when he lines up in the Tattersalls Ireland Gold Cup at the Curragh on Sunday, while Cantillon has already made plans to travel to Epsom to see Tranquil Lady tackle the Oaks. The story continues.

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State Of Rest’s Dam Sold To Juddmonte

Repose (Quiet American), the dam of treble Group/Grade 1 winner State Of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) and Classic-entered Tranquil Lady (Ire) (Australia {GB}), has been bought by Juddmonte Farms.

Bred by Dermot Cantillon and Meta Osborne of Tinnakill House, the 10-year-old daughter of noted broodmare sire Quiet American has already hit the jackpot with two of her first three foals. State Of Rest is a rare top-level winner in three different countries, having won the Belmont Derby in America and Australia's Cox Plate last season before adding the Prix Ganay to his tally on his most recent outing in France. On Sunday he takes aim at the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh, and it has already been announced that the 4-year-old will shuttle between Ireland's Rathbarry Stud and Newgate Farm in Australia upon his eventual retirement to stud.

Repose's third foal, Tranquil Lady, races in the Teme Valley Racing colours sported by her elder sibling last year, and she holds entries for the Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas and Cazoo Oaks, having won the G3 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Blue Wind S. in impressive fashion on her last start.

 A statement released by Cantillon and Osborne on Thursday read, “We are delighted to announce that Juddmonte have purchased Repose, the dam of Tinnakill-bred multiple Group 1 winner State of Rest and Oaks contender Tranquil Lady.

“Repose, a Tinnakill homebred, has given great joy to our family and her success is a testament to the hard work of Ian Thompson and the whole team at Tinnakill.

“We are delighted to entrust Repose to our friends at Juddmonte where we have no doubt she will continue to flourish for years to come with access to the world's best stallions.

“What began as a retained homebred filly has turned into an amazing journey seeing her blossom into one of the world's most promising broodmares, nurtured throughout on our family farm in Laois. We have retained her Sea The Stars filly foal and we look forward to cheering her progeny for years to come.”

Cantillon and Osborne bought Repose's dam, the Gainsborough-bred Listed winner Monaassabaat (Zilzal), from Goffs in November 2007 for €42,000. The mare was 16 at the time and she went on to produce Listed Churchill S. winner Prince Alzain (Street Sense). The unraced Repose, who is currently in foal to Frankel (GB), is a grand-daughter of the multiple champion American filly It's In The Air (Mr Prospector), whose 16 wins included five at Grade 1 level.

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State Of Rest’s Dam To Visit Frankel

Repose (Quiet American), the dam of last year's G1 Cox Plate and GI Saratoga Derby Invitational winner State Of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), will visit champion sire Frankel (GB) this year, owner Dermot Cantillon told the TDN. The 10-year-old mare is in foal to Sea The Stars (Ire) and is due to foal soon.

State Of Rest is the second foal out of Repose, and he was bought by Diamond Bloodstock for 45,000gns as a foal before being pinhooked for 60,000gns when purchased as a yearling by Aiden O'Ryan and Joseph O'Brien. He started out racing for the Long Wait Partnership before being bought privately by Teme Valley Racing. State Of Rest ran just three times last year but made of the most of his opportunities; after finishing third in The Curragh's Listed Celebration S. on June 26, he shipped to New York to win the Saratoga Derby. He traveled to Australia off 77 days' rest, but made it a Group 1 double when besting the G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Anamoe (Aus) (Street Boss) by a short head.

Teme Valley also races Repose's 3-year-old filly Tranquil Lady (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who broke her maiden at second asking in September before finishing second in the Listed Staffordstown Stud S. Repose has a newly turned 2-year-old filly by Dandy Man (Ire) who was bought by American trainer Tony Dutrow for €180,000 at Goffs Orby, and she was rested for 2021 before being covered by Sea The Stars.

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