Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Bred in Queensland by Racetree, the outstanding racehorse and stallion, Zoustar, has already been in the headlines this season when Zougotcha provided the stallion with his 31st stakes winner following a victory in the G2 Silver Shadow S., while North Star Lass, another of his daughters, added one more to his total haul on Saturday with a victory in the G2 Furious S.
From the get-go well regarded as a stallion prospect, Zoustar won two Group 1 races, the G1 Golden Rose and the G1 Coolmore Stud S., both of which are held in high esteem as stallion-producing contests.
Zoustar when racing | Standing at Widden, image courtesy of Sportpix
And, so, Zoustar has been strongly supported throughout his stud career. His smallest book has been a respectable 159 mares in his second season in 2015, while his largest book was 243 in 2018. Kicking off at a service fee of $44,000 (inc GST), he will stand this spring at Widden Stud for a fee of $198,000 (inc GST), up on the $154,000 (inc GST) he stood for last year.
A horse who hit the track running, Zoustar won his first three starts including the G2 BRC Sires' Produce S., and was Group 1-placed at his final start as a 2-year-old when he finished second in the G1 JJ Atkins S.
He was again in the winner’s circle on three consecutive occasions at three, well and truly setting himself up as a stallion prospect with his pair of Group 1 successes.
Crowned Australia's Champion First, Second and Third Season Sire, Zoustar is one of an elite group of stallions to have provided a Group 1 trifecta, doing so in a race he won himself - the Coolmore Stud S. of 2018 when his brilliant daughter Sunlight defeated Zousain and Lean Mean Machine.
On the back of the good early form shown by Sunlight, including her R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic victory in 2018, which saw his first service fee increase to $60,500 (inc GST) which was a big one for Zoustar - hence the increase in his stakes winner ratio, and there is plenty more to come from those 3-year-olds.
Zoustar's oldest recently turned seven and a number of winners from that debut crop - such as the stakes winners Charge, Zoutori and Zoustyle - are still racing. The 86.7 per cent strike rate of his first crop is tesament to the breed's longevity which is encouraging for his supporters.
The pedigree patterns
It is well-recognised that the mighty Danehill (USA) has been underperforming as a line-breeding subject (an average 53.7 per cent overall strike rate; 2.8 per cent stakes winners) but Zoustar is one horse to whom breeders can send their Danehill-line mares without the usual concerns.
Danehill (USA)
His Danehill strain is not through the direct male line (history shows that close line-breeding to a stallion through the two male lines tends to yield disappointing results), rather through his son Redoute's Choice, Zoustar's damsire.
Zoustar over further Danehill actually outperforms, though just slightly, while Zoustar overall - 65.6 per cent winners to runners vs 63.8 per cent with 7.2 per cent stakes winners vs 6.1 per cent.
So it is worth having a look at which members of the Danehill line fare best with Zoustar...
| Al Maher | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Fastnet Rock | 24 | 19 | 2 |
| Flying Spur | 19 | 13 | 2 |
| Magnus | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Shovhog | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Table: Which Danehill line fares best with Zoustar
And then we have Redoute's Choice who has been duplicated in the pedigrees of 68 winners from 134 runners; a just fair overall strike rate of 50.7 per cent. But there have been six stakes winners - and four of those are by Zoustar.
Six of Zoustar's eight runners out of Redoute's Choice mares are winners with the best of those being his dual Group 2 winner Haut Brion Her. The other three stakes winners are out of mares by Redoute's Choice's sons. (See below table).
| Snitzel | 7 | 6 | 2 |
| Not A Single Doubt | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Stratum | 11 | 10 | 1 |
Table: Son's of Redoute's Choice
Another seven Zoustar stakes winners are line-bred to Danehill, including his aforementioned star daughter Sunlight, through Danehill's daughters. (See below table).
| Second damsire | 22 | 15 | 4 |
| Third damsire | 8 | 4 | 1 |
Table: Zoustar's performance with Danehill-line mare mares
Of course, there is so much more to any horse's pedigree than one cross and there are other factors at work in the pedigrees of Zoustar's good horses line-bred to Redoute's Choice and Danehill.
Potent crosses
Sunlight, for example, is one of the 11 stakes winners and two Group 1 winners, with Zoutori the other, line-bred to Biscay. It is no surprise to see Zoustar pick up on his influence as his dam Zouzou is bred on a 6 X 4 cross of Biscay's dam Magic Symbol (Makarpura {GB}) whose son Star Of Heaven, who, like Biscay is by Star Kingdom (Ire), is the grandsire of Zoustar's grandam.
Sunlight | Image courtesy of Sportpix
In regards to the Zoustar/Flying Spur cross which has produced three stakes winners including the G1 Canterbury S. winner Mizzy, the wonderful mare Rolls (USA) (Mr Prospector {USA}) is also duplicated - she being the grandam of Zoustar's grandsire Encosta De Lago and the dam of Flying Spur.
Zougotcha, a sister to the Listed winner Persuader, is another with further Biscay who appears in Fastnet Rock and of the four other runners carrying a strain of Forty Niner (USA), three are winners - noting that Forty Niner is a descendant of the famed matriarch Chelandry (GB) (Goldfinch {GB}) who strongly influences Zoustar's pedigree via strains of Heroic, Magpie (GB), Clarion (Fr) and Blockbuster.
Zoustar has picked up nicely on other Chelandry strains, namely Anabaa (seven winners from nine runners including the Group 3 winner Zoustyle), Zeditave (11 from 15 including Group winners Haut Brion Her and Zou Dancer), Alannon (dual Group 2 winner Lean Mean Machine the sole runner) and Never Say Die (USA) (Lean Mean Machine and fellow Group winner Charge).
Dual Group winner Lightsaber - another of Zoustar's smart ones line-bred to Danehill - is one of his four stakes winners out of mares carrying a strain of Sadler's Wells (USA) with the G1 Newmarket H. winner Zoutori amongst the others.
Lightsaber | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Meanwhile, three Zoustar stakes winners have Nureyev (USA) whilst all three runners with Tate Gallery (USA) are winners including the UK Group 3 winner Lezoo (GB). And the dual Listed winner Indian Pacific is one of just two Zoustar runners out of mares by Perugino (USA).
Sadler's Wells, Tate Gallery and Perugino are all sons of the wonderful mare Fairy Bridge (USA) (Bold Reason {USA}) whilst Nureyev is her half-brother. And Northern Meteor, sire of Zoustar, is bred on a 6 X 4 cross of his own fourth dam Rough Shod II (GB) (Gold Bridge {Fr}), grandam of Fairy Bridge's high-achieving dam Special (USA) (Forli {Arg}).
Also of interest are Zoustar's three stakes winners - including the Group 1 winners Mizzy and Zoutori - who carry a strain of the G1 Champion S. winner Lorenzaccio (Ire) whose fourth dam Dalmary (GB) (Blandford {Ire}) is Northern Meteor's fifth dam.
Strong strains
Mares by Danehill's G1 Australian Guineas-winning son Al Maher boast a great record with Zoustar - the stakes winners Madam Rouge and Zouzarella also line-bred to the lovely mare Dancing Show (USA) (Nijinsky II {Can}) - grandam of Al Maher and Redoute's Choice.
Zouzarella | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
A number of Zoustar's stakes winners line-bred to Danehill also have Sir Tristram (Ire) who has always crossed successfully with his relation Star Way (GB). Both stallions are descendants of the acclaimed matriarch Selene (GB) (Chaucer {GB}) with the former being the damsire of Northern Meteor's grandsire Encosta De Lago.
Group 3 winner Twin Stars is the first Zoustar stakes winner with three Danehill strains, crosses supported by a Biscay duplication and the presence of Nureyev.
Legendary breeder Federico Tesio's Catnip (Ire) (Spearmint {GB}) family is well represented in Zoustar with his 15 strains of Nearco (Ity) and one each of Novalis (Ger) and Neckar (Ger) and he picks up well on the far-reaching influence of this family.
The Boudoir II (GB) (Mahmoud {Fr}) family from which Danehill's damsire His Majesty (USA) hails has also influenced Zoustar's success with three stakes winners carrying a strain of Crowned Prince (USA) and two of Graustark (USA) whilst five (including the Listed winner Solar Star) of the six runners with Majestic Prince (USA) are winners.
Majestic Prince (USA) | Image courtesy of Wikipedia
The G1 Kentucky Oaks heroine Lalun (USA) (Djeddah {Fr}) is also a good influence, her son Bold Reason (USA) being the damsire of Northern Meteor's grandsire Fairy King whilst her other son Never Bend (USA) is found within five generations in the pedigrees of seven Zoustar stakes winners including Zoutori.
Plucky Liege (GB) (Spearmint {GB}), ancestress of Northern Meteor's damsire Fappiano (USA) also features in a number of Zoustar's best runners noting that a horse with strong Plucky Liege influence in Roberto (USA) features in six Zoustar stakes winners including Sunlight.
