Written by Trent Masenhelder
Cover image courtesy of Racing Photos
He may not yet be in the state, but the recently retired Lightsaber looks set for a bumper first season in the breeding barn at Darling View Thoroughbreds come spring.
Darling View Thoroughbreds has announced its latest acquisition to its roster, the Group 2 winner and Group 1 runner-up Lightsaber, will stand for $6600 (inc GST) in his first season at stud.
Trained by Peter Moody, Lightsaber won the G2 VRC Sires’ Produce S. at two, and at three, he added the G3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude, before running a close fourth behind the superstar Anamoe (Street Boss {USA}) in the G1 Caulfield Guineas.
In the autumn of his 3-year-old season, Lightsaber was beaten less than half-a-length when second to the brilliant Hitotsu (Maurice {Jpn}) in the G1 Australian Guineas.
Remarkably, 13 of his 19 starts were at Group or Listed level.
Lightsaber won four times, amassing prizemoney of $822,510.
Lightsaber | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
The 4-year-old becomes the first son of Widden Stud’s Group 1-producing sire Zoustar to stand in Western Australia and Darling View Thoroughbreds’ Stud Manager, Brent Atwell, told TDN AusNZ, the locals are set to give him a warm welcome.
“His introductory fee will be $6000 (plus GST) and I think he will be well-received, he should get a really nice book of mares,” Atwell commented.
“There’s a fair amount of talk about him at the Magic Millions Sale here in Perth, so we thought it was a perfect time to announce his fee.
“There’s a fair amount of talk about him (Lightsaber) at the Magic Millions Sale here in Perth, so we thought it was a perfect time to announce his fee.” - Brent Atwell
“We were taking bookings before we even set a fee, so it’s quite exciting.
“When we purchased him, we always thought he would be a really nice horse in that mid-market over here.”
Atwell said Lightsaber, who has remained in Victoria since being retired, has “let down really well”.
“He’s not over here yet, he’s at Rosemont Stud spelling at the moment; we’re just waiting on a plane to get him across,” he said.
“He’ll be in Perth by the end of March or thereabouts.”
A pedigree to support his on-track ability
Bred by Emirates Park, Lightsaber was consigned by Aquis Farm at the 2020 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, where JCS Racing paid $80,000 for him. He was later offered by his purchaser at the 2020 Inglis Ready2Race Sale, where he was knocked down to Blueblood Thoroughbreds for $100,00.
He is from the unraced Dream Ahead (USA) mare Dream Cirque, a half-sister to the stakes performer Distant Rock (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}), while his fourth dam is Piccadilly Circus (Royal Academy {USA}, who has produced multiple Champion sire Fastent Rock, among others.
Atwell believes his progeny will be precocious, early types.
“Yeah, I would think so. If you look at Zoustar and now what Zousain is putting on the ground, I’d think he would be in that same mould,” said Atwell.
Zoustar | Standing at Widden Stud
“WA trainers and buyers love 2-year-olds, but I think they will have the scope to train on, these horses.”
With several Danehill-line horses in Western Australia, Darling View was looking for a suitable outcross.
Lightsaber joins Splintex (a son of Snitzel, who covered 118 mares in his first season), Lucky Street, Patronize and Playing God on the Darling View roster.
“We have a lot of Danehill blood over here, so it’s good to get something different for the breeders in WA,” Atwell explained.
“You go to the big sales and everyone wants a Snitzel and we’ve got Splintex and now everyone wants a Zoustar, so we thought, ‘Why not have a crack at Lightsaber?,' and we were lucky enough to get him.”
