Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling embarks on stud career at Kenmare Castle

Melbourne Cup hero Rekindling has embarked on a new career as a stallion at William Fox's Kenmare Castle Stud in Limerick.

The eight-year-old son of High Chaparral, who also won the Group 2 Curragh Cup and Group 3 Ballysax Stakes for Joseph O'Brien, is the first stallion to stand at Fox's farm in Hospital and was sought-after by his new stallion handler.

"I would have been involved in stallions over the years with Longford House Stud, having shares in them, and I was looking for a High Chaparral horse to cover a mare that I have who is a half-sister to Khalifa Sat," Fox explained.

"I started inquiring about Rekindling and the best way to find out is to pick up the phone, so I rang Joseph O'Brien and asked him where the horse was.

"He told me that the horse was still with him and it took off from there. He spoke with Lloyd Williams and his team in Australia and they were happy for the horse to go to stud here."

From the penultimate crop of the Derby and Breeders' Cup hero, Rekindling was initially trained by David Wachman, for whom he won a maiden at two and was second to Capri on his debut.

Rekindling was the final runner sent out by Wachman and he was then transferred to the Joseph O'Brien yard following Wachman's retirement from training, and Rekindling went on to win three of his seven starts in 2017 for O'Brien, most memorably the Melbourne Cup.

A northern hemisphere three-year-old when he was sent to Australia, Rekindling was the youngest winner of the famous race in 76 years and the sixth winner in the colours of Williams, the most successful owner in Melbourne Cup history.

Fox has assembled a select broodmare band to support his new stallion, and the mares Rekindling will cover this spring include Maria Louisa, a Holy Roman Emperor half-sister to Grade 1 novice hurdle winner Tower Bridge, and La Protagonista, a Night Shift half-sister to the Classic-placed three-parts siblings Unsung Heroine and Khalifa Sat.

"I have a number of mares that are suitable and I bought a few more to go to him, so I have put together a small band of my own that are suitable for him and he's going to cover away," said Fox.

"He has been in limbo for the past 12 months or more so I don't expect people to be banging down the door, but I like him, and a number of people have specific mares that they want him to cover.

"I'm sure that there are a few more people out there who would be interested in him, but we are taking it in small steps."

Rekindling was bred by the Pocock family and sold by their Stringston Farm to Camas Park Stud for 60,000gns at the 2014 Tattersalls December Foal Sale. He is a brother to the Chester Vase winner and Irish Derby runner-up Golden Sword and a half-brother to Sydney Opera House, by Australia, who was Group 1-placed at two.

His family is one of the most prolific producers of Group winners in Europe; Rekindling's dam Sitara is a Salse half-sister to Shouk, who is the dam of Alexandrova, winner of three Group 1 contests, and the Cheveley Park Stakes winner Magical Romance, the granddam of Nathaniel's Prix de Diane winner Channel.

Sitara is also a half-sister to Listed Harvest Stakes winner Puce and she is the dam of Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed Pongee and Platonic, who is the dam of the Group 1 winners Magic Wand and Chicquita.

The experience of standing a stallion for the first time has been a positive one to date for the novice stallion master, who has got off to a flying start with Rekindling.

Fox said: "He has covered two mares already and he seems to be a very placid horse. I have experience owning stallions, though this is the first time I've stood one myself - but this guy is a dream to deal with so far."

Rekindling is available at €2,000 for a colt foal and the reduced fee of €1,000 for a filly.

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