The Joseph O'Brien-trained State Of Rest gave Starspangledbanner his third Group/Grade 1 winner bred from his Northern Hemisphere base at Coolmore Ireland, joining G1 Prix Morny winner The Wow Signal (Ire) and G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Millisle (Ire).
It's another major feather in the cap of Starspangledbanner, who has overcome much-publicised fertility issues early in his career to become an internationally successful stallion, with a total of 20 individual stakes winners across six different countries, and winners in 17 countries overall.
Starspangledbanner | Standing at Rosemont Stud
Of his 208 winners, 91 have come in his home country of Australia, where he has stood for four seasons at Coolmore Australia in the Hunter Valley and five seasons with Rosemont Stud in Victoria, where he returned to in 2019.
This week, he completed his annual trek back from Ireland to resume his residency at Rosemont, where he will stand at $16,500 (inc GST) with huge momentum behind him, having produced five global individual stakes winners to date in 2021, already on par with his best-ever calendar year, which was in 2020.
"We were looking at his statistics on Friday. He's a stallion that has had stakes winners the world over," Rosemont Stud's General Manager - Bloodstock Ryan McEvoy said.
"We were looking at his (Starspangledbanner) statistics on Friday. He's a stallion that has had stakes winners the world over." - Ryan McEvoy
"Just over the last couple of months, he had that Group 1 winner overnight in the States and stakes winners in Ireland, England and Australia. He's also got the highest rated 2-year-old griffin in Hong Kong, a horse called California Spangle, who really has created an impression on his two runs to date. He looks a star.
"He's just a phenomenally successful and consistent stallion. He's had 22 individual stakes horses since May last year. That's an unbelievable result."
Success flows from many sources
What is also apparent from Starspangledbanner's statistics is the diversity of international bloodlines he is having success with. His 20 stakes winners have come from mares by 19 different sires.
Saturday's Saratoga Derby winner, State Of Rest, is out of Repose (USA), a daughter of Quiet American (USA). That is a truly international family, going back to his third maternal dam, It's In the Air (USA) (Mr Prospector {USA}), a Champion filly in the United States of America as both a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old.
It's In The Air is also the third dam of Australian Group 1 winners Alverta (Flying Spur) and Glencadam Gold (Ire) (Refuse To Bend {Ire}) and features in the pedigree of a host of international Group 1 winners.
McEvoy sees the diversity of broodmare sirelines Starspangledbanner has successfully nicked with as a major asset.
"If you look at his record, he has had stakes winners from our colonial mares from the likes of Rory's Jester, and then you've got Brooklyn Hustle out of a Pivotal mare," McEvoy said.
"Last night's Group 1 winner was out of a Quiet American mare, so that's a Fappiano sireline. He's also had a Group 1-winning 2-year-old out of a High Chaparral mare. He's a stallion that can clearly get a speed horse, and you see he gets a winner over the Saratoga Derby distance (1900 metres).
"For a stallion (Starspangledbanner) who has had three Group 1 winners and the amount of stakes horses that he has had, particularly in the last 12 months, he's as good a value a stallion as you'd find in Australia." - Ryan McEvoy
"For a stallion who has had three Group 1 winners and the amount of stakes horses that he has had, particularly in the last 12 months, he's as good a value a stallion as you'd find in Australia."
Fertility management working
McEvoy said the ongoing strong relationship between Rosemont and Coolmore has ensured that Starspangledbanner's fertility has been well-managed, ensuring he can service books in both hemispheres at a commercial level.
He said Starspangledbanner covered in the vicinity of 150 mares in Ireland in 2021, and will cover somewhere around the 100 mark at Rosemont in the upcoming season
"What we have tried to emphasise is how with added maturity, and managing that fertility a bit differently, between us and the Coolmore teams we have been able to work on maximising that fertility," McEvoy said.
Ryan McEvoy | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
"Last year he was one of our more fertile stallions at Rosemont and breeders can be confident that he is at a really strong level in that regard."
Having covered books of 83 and 72 in his two seasons since returning to Rosemont, Starspangledbanner is expected to have a slightly increased book this season.
"He’ll cover in the vicinity of around 100 mares again. That allows us to manage the horse to his favour. That 100 mark is what works really well for him," he said.
"It’s a bit different in Europe, because there is not that same pressure on covering mares in that first six weeks of the season and their breeding season is also a little longer. He's a horse whose covers are spaced and that's what we have found works well for him."
McEvoy said the 'book full' sign is not quite yet up for Starspangledbanner, who will stand alongside fellow Rosemont residents Shamus Award, Strasbourg, Nostradamus, Starcraft (NZ) and new addition Hanseatic in 2021.
