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| Staff Writer |
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Reigning Gr.1 Cox Plate champion State Of Rest will not return to defend his title at Moonee Valley in October and has been retired after an MRI scan revealed an issue .
A statement released yesterday by trainer Joseph O’Brien read: “State Of Rest will not travel to Australia to defend his title this year. An MRI scan conducted by Racing Victoria has found an issue and as such he will not pass the necessary protocols to travel to Melbourne.
“We feel this explains his poor performance in the Prix Jacques Le Marois. State Of Rest will be retired to stud immediately.”
The 4YO failed this year’s stringent Racing Victoria veterinary requirements, which were first introduced ahead of last year’s spring carnival ahead of the 2022 Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.
Owned by a Newgate Farm-led syndicate in conjunction with Rathbarry Stud in Ireland, the 5YO will now be retired, with co-owners Rathbarry Stud confirming State Of Rest will stand the northern hemisphere season (which begins in February) in Ireland, before shuttling south to Newgate Farm in the Hunter Valley in 2023.
“He was without question a remarkably talented, durable, and consistent performer,” O’Brien said. “We asked a huge amount of him throughout his career and he delivered every time.
“He won Group races on three different continents in the face of a wide variety of tracks, ground conditions, and race tempos. It all came alike to him. He had the most incredible constitution and will to win.”
State Of Rest retires the winner of four Group One races in four different countries, having won the Gr.1 Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes in the US in August 2021, then the memorable Gr.1 Cox Plate victory, the Gr.1 Prix Ganay in France on his seasonal reappearance in May and then a crowning victory at Royal Ascot followed in the Gr.1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.
However, ahead of State Of Rest’s retirement, Moonee Valley Racing Club CEO Michael Browell yesterday voiced concerns that there may not be any international runners in this year’s Cox Plate, as there seems to be ‘little interest’ from other possible overseas contenders.