‘There will be pressure for his service fee to go up': Zoustar crowned leading sire at Inglis Easter

Cover image courtesy of Widden

Zoustar is basking in the glory of a remarkable 2023/24 season, both on and off the racetrack. The Widden Stud-based sire hit a huge milestone at the 2024 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale that concluded on Monday.

Zoustar was crowned the leading sire at the prestigious sale. The sire was represented by 36 yearlings, with 27 selling for a gross of $18,720,000, an average of $693,333, and a median of $550,000.

The title for Zoustar ends the five-year reign by I Am Invincible on the leading sire award, after he secured it from Snitzel in 2019.

Fittingly, Widden Stud consigned and sold the top-priced yearling by the stallion, Lot 227 - a filly from the Group 1 winner Prompt Response (Beneteau).

Lighting up the track and ringside

During the spring, Joliestar clinched victory in the G1 The Thousand Guineas, while Ozzmosis followed in his father's footsteps by triumphing in the G1 Coolmore Stud S., marking Zoustar's seventh Group 1 winner.

The success continued into the autumn, with Zougotcha bouncing back to top form to secure her second elite-level victory in the G1 Coolmore Classic. Additionally, Zoustar’s promising 2-year-old son, Espionage, added the G3 Kindergarten S. to his earlier G3 Breeders’ Plate win from the spring.

Based at Widden Stud, Zoustar has proven to be a prolific sire, producing 53 stakes winners, including an impressive seven individual Group 1 winners from just eight crops of racing age.

Gallery: Some of Zoustar's Group 1 winners

Given these remarkable achievements, it's no surprise that the progeny of Zoustar are highly sought after and eagerly anticipated at auction.

In addition to claiming the title of leading sire at the 2024 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, Zoustar’s overall sales performance has been nothing short of extraordinary. Out of the 97-progeny presented for sale in 2024, an impressive 83 were successfully sold, fetching a total aggregate of $40,352,292. With an average selling price of $486,172 and a median price of $400,000

Thompson told TTR AusNZ, “Since he retired, Zoustar has always been a highly commercial sire. That really speaks volumes for the type of horse he throws.

“From day one, not only was Zoustar a stunning physical horse himself, but he was able to throw these stunning types and horses that shine in the show ring.

“The Zoustar’s have good actions, good attitudes and the strength and substance he puts into his foals are always going to take the eye and be commercial.”

Easter glory

Securing the crown was no easy feat for Zoustar, especially with fierce competition from Australia’s reigning Champion Sire, I Am Invincible, and the four-time Champion Sire, Snitzel.

I Am Invincible was represented by 44-progeny at the sale, with 28 successfully sold for a total of $18,675,000. Falling short by $45,000 to Zoustar’s gross sales of $18,720,000. Meanwhile, Snitzel had 36 out of his 40 offerings sold, accumulating a total of $18,650,000.

Gallery: Zoustar secured the crown from Australia’s reigning Champion Sire, I Am Invincible, and the four-time Champion Sire, Snitzel

The difference in sales between Zoustar and the third-placed Snitzel was a mere $70,000. However, this marked a significant leap for Zoustar from the 2023 Australian Easter Yearling Sale, where he finished fourth on the sires’ table behind, I Am Invincible, Snitzel, and Written Tycoon.

To highlight Zoustar’s remarkable ascent, let's look back at the 2023 statistics. That year, Zoustar had 25 offerings at Riverside Stables, with 21 successfully sold. He grossed $9,650,000 with an average selling price of $459,524, a median price of $340,000, and a top price reaching $1.3 million.

Widden gold

Widden Stud showcased their top-selling Zoustar at the auction with Lot 227, a filly from talented mare Prompt Response. James Harron Bloodstock acquired this standout filly for an impressive $2.2 million.

Another highlight from Widden Stud was Lot 328, which fetched $1.55 million. This colt is from the Group 2-winning mare Summer Sham (Not A Single Doubt). He is her fourth foal and third live foal. Notably, he is a full brother to the promising Schwarz, who has already clinched a Listed race victory in just four starts. The consortium of China Horse Club, Newgate, Go Bloodstock, and Trilogy secured this promising colt.

Gallery: Widden Stud showcased their top-selling Zoustar at the auction, images courtesy of Inglis

Widden Stud continued to attract attention with Lot 269, a Zoustar filly out of the Denman mare Secret Trail, the dam of the talented juvenile Spywire (Trapeze Artist). Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock snapped up this filly for $950,000.

Lastly, Widden Stud’s top-priced Zoustars presented was Lot 304; the colt is out of the renowned producer Solar Charged (Charge Forward). This pairing has previously produced the exceptional three-time Group 1 winner, Sunlight. The colt was acquired by China Horse Club, Newgate, Go Bloodstock, and Trilogy for $850,000, further highlighting the strong demand for Zoustar’s progeny.

Heir to the throne

Widden Stud’s acquisition of Zoustar was meaningful. The farm had been the home of his sire, Northern Meteor; like his son, he won the G1 Coolmore Stud S.

Northern Meteor looks destined for a successful stud career, with a host of promising runners such as Cosmic Endeavour, Deep Field, Najoom, Fighting Sun, Shooting To Win and Eurozone.

However, after just four seasons at Widden Stud, Northern Meteor died in 2013 from a colic attack. Zoustar’s ascent at Widden Stud is a piece of synergy. He is also starting to make his mark as a sire of sires.

Zoustar’s son Lean Mean Machine, a placegetter in the G1 Coolmore Stud S., has sired winners, as has his precocious son Sun City. Meanwhile, in 2020, Zoustar was joined by his son Zousain at Widden Stud.

Like, Lean Mean Machine, Zousain was also placed in the G1 Coolmore Stud. From his first crop to run, Zousain has sired the Group 2 winner, Drifting and six individual winners overall.

Looking to the future, Zoustar has his G1 Coolmore Stud S. winner, Ozzmosis, who will likely stand at Newgate Farm upon retirement. Meanwhile, there is also the James Harron Colt Syndicate-raced Espionage and the Rosemont Stud colour bearer Schwarz.

As a broodmare sire, Zoustar’s daughters are responsible for 15 runners, including the Group 3-winning 2-year-old Holmes A Court (Capitalist).

“Zoustar is an incredibly important horse to Widden Stud, and to me. It is personal and has been such a journey. It was well documented we lost Northern Meteor and other pieces of the backstory but to see Zoustar really step up it gives everybody enormous satisfaction.

“Zoustar was a horse we took a big position on. We’ve always had incredible belief in and to see him succeeding with his runners and then being the leading sire at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, it’s just wonderful.”

The faith has transferred to Zousain, with the Widden Stud team believing the best is yet to come for the son of Zoustar, "Personally, Zousain, was the best-looking son of Zoustar. He was purchased by people very close with our team - Guy Mulcaster, Chris Waller and David Redvers, who was also in Zoustar.

“So, we were involved with him in the early days and followed his career very closely. We have belief in Zousain and we’ve loved the types he’s thrown, and he gets the sale horse as well.

“Sledmere Stud consigned a stunning Zousain colt (Lot 70), I thought physically he was a real standout, he could have been a Zoustar.

“We were pleased to reinvest back there and join David Redvers and Ciaron Maher. I’m thrilled with how Zousain is performing. He hit the track around this time and didn’t make an impression until a bit later in the 2-year-old season.

“Obviously, Zousain really came to light in Brisbane over winter as a 2-year-old. So, seeing him doing as well as he already is incredibly exciting.”

Future all-stars?

After the success Zoustar has had over the past 12 months and as we head into the stallion announcement season it would be natural to think Zoustar’s 2023 fee of $220,000 (inc GST) could see a rise.

“No decisions have been made nor any discussions had. Obviously, Zoustar is sort of the young boy on the block. He’s a horse that everyone’s going to want to breed to and we’ve had enormous interest and inquiry from the major breeders.

“Zoustar is around 10-years younger than his peers but he’s put himself right in the spot as the leading sire at Easter, both in terms of aggregate and average when you take out the Winx filly.

“So, it’s fair to say that all major commercial breeders will be taking a decent position on him and with that demand there will be pressure for his service fee to go up.

“However, we’re committed not to be serving hundreds of mares, we’ll keep him to very limited books.”

Last spring, Zoustar attracted an impressive collection of 155 mares at a fee of $220,000 (including GST). Among these mares were Group 1 winners such as Bella Vella (Commands), Daysee Doom (Domesday), Graceful Girl (Nicconi), September Run (Exceed And Excel), Switzerland (Snitzel), and I Am Excited (Snitzel).

Additionally, the stallion also covered mares like Prompt Response, Cabernet (Al Maher) – the dam of Zoustar's Group 2-winning daughter, Madam Rogue. The list further included the swift Dosh (Rich Enuff) and the multiple stakes winner Still A Star (Toronado {Ire}).