'It makes it a lot easier to pull the trigger when he is a son of Zoustar': Espionage brings new dimension to Lovatsville at $11,000

Cover image courtesy of Sportpix

Lovatsville has unveiled the latest edition to their stallion roster; dual Group 3-winning juvenile Espionage, a son of Zoustar descended from blue hen Summoned (Crowned Prince {USA}), who will stand his inaugural season in 2026 for $11,000 (inc GST).

A gun 2-year-old

One of four winners for multiple metropolitan winner In Times Of War (Street Cry {Ire}), Espionage was a $1 million purchase for the James Harron Bloodstock Colt Partnership from Baramul Stud’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft in 2023. These were the first of a series of boxes checked for Lovatsville’s Sam White.

“A lot of the guesswork is taken out of the equation when you have James Harron buying him as a yearling, and then Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott turn him into a gun 2-year-old,” said White.

And gun he was. A winner of his heat at the first official 2-year-old trials of the season, Espionage produced a strong finish on debut in the G3 Breeders’ Plate to beat subsequent G2 Silver Slipper Stakes winner Straight Charge (Written By) by a nose, with subsequent G3 Canonbury Stakes winner and Aquis Farm stallion Prost in third.

On his autumn resumption, Espionage was second in the Silver Slipper and ran a highly credible fifth in the G2 Todman Stakes to Switzerland, before producing his top performance for the season in the G3 Kindergarten Stakes to win by three lengths.

“Coolmore bought into him before his 3-year-old season with a view of targeting the Everest,” White said. “So that was on my mind when I went to go see him.”

As a 3-year-old, Espionage missed the spring carnival due to requiring surgery after a stable accident, and was thrown in the deep end at his first start in the autumn, running a tough sixth to Jimmysstar (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}) in the G1 Oakleigh Plate - a performance that saw his rating raise eight points to a career-best 92 at his next start.

A deep and current pedigree

“He’s obviously a horse with a very sexy profile,” said White. “He’s a son of Zoustar out of a good Street Cry mare with a great pedigree. It’s a pedigree that genetically is quite open and extremely versatile, and is going to be very suitable to the Australian colonial speed population.”

Espionage’s dam In Times Of War is one of five winners for multiple stakes winner Military Rose (General Nediym), the victress of four juvenile stakes races including the G2 Reisling Stakes and the R. Listed Magic Millions Gold Coast 2YO Classic.

“The grandam had the class to win a Reisling,” White said. “And when you look at the record of the dam, her first 11 starts were all in the city, and she either won or placed in all of them. There's just a lot of quality in that pedigree. There's a lot of fabulous and famous old blood, and there was a huge part of the attraction.”

Amongst Military Rose’s other offspring is Medaglia Valore (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}), dam of G2 Skyline Stakes winner Campione D’Italia (Snitzel) who ran fourth in the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes last week.

“I love seeing those fabulous old families with active branches,” White said. “Campione D’Italia won the Skyline and ran a great race in the Slipper. He looks like a very exciting colt for the Newgate syndicate. Those performances happened after we had bought Espionage, which is very exciting for us.”

It is fifth dam Summoned that particularly excites White in the pedigree. A descendant of prolific mare Paraffin (GB) (Blair Athol {GB}), via her granddaughter Chelandry (GB) (Goldfinch {GB}), Summoned’s five stakes winners include five-time Group 1 winner Zeditave and the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude winners Zedagal (The Judge) and Square Deal (The Judge).

“Summoned is one of the best domestic broodmares of the last 50 years,” said White. “I have always been a fan of that family, it keeps coming up trumps. It gives a great formline for breeders to follow. Zeditave is a renowned speed influence, and when he is sitting back there in the pedigree, you know it’s a very fast style of family.”

A resounding ‘yes’

All of this was on White’s mind when viewing the now 4-year-old, but seeing the horse in the flesh sealed the deal.

“When I went to inspect him, he was a resounding ‘yes’,” he said. “He is stunning to look at. It's something that every breeder is going to see when they come to look at him. They're going to see the quality and see the style of stallion he is going to let down into. He very much has that Zoustar look about him.

“He’s just so impressive, and he’s got an unbelievable demeanour.”

Another resounding ‘yes’ is from Coolmore Stud themselves, who will continue to support the horse as he enters stud.

“It’s a great endorsement of us to have them continue to be involved,” White said. “I started my time in the industry with them, so it’s a nice full circle moment. I am really thankful to the Magnier family for giving me that start, and they are wonderful to work with. I am excited for what this next chapter will bring.”

Studs like Coolmore have provided White with the blueprint approach for selecting stallions, and now Lovatsville stand three sons of champions, with Espionage joining I Am Invincible’s juvenile Group 1-winning son Move To Strike and Snitzel’s dual Group 3-winning son Generation.

Gallery: Lovatsville's fellow stallions by Champion Sires

“There is a fairly good blueprint provided by the most successful farms in Australia, so I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel,” White said. “I'm just looking at what the best have done and trying to implement that into our business.

“I think you need diversity on your roster, so that you're not cannibalising your client base with too similar options. So whilst they are all speed sons of champion stallions, they're all from different sirelines and it allows a bit of genetic crossover and versatility.

“They’re all out of really good mares, with great pedigrees behind them. They are going to write their own stories.”

A point of difference

For White, it has been a competitive year for stallion prospects, so he has sought something familiar yet different for the Victorian stallion population with Espionage.

“A son of Zoustar has been something that we have been seeking out for a while,” he said. “Zoustar has done a remarkable job, he’s been a huge sales ring success, his sons have been very popular at stud, and you get the feeling that he's only going to continue to get stronger as a sire.

“Results in the ring are obviously an enormous part of what the industry is built upon, and while any stallion needs to end up being a good sire of racehorses, there needs to be a commercial element to him too.”

Espionage is the only son of Zoustar at stud in Australia out of a Street Cry (Ire) mare and the only Zoustar son that descends from Paraffin, a family that has also produced multiple Champion Sire I Am Invincible.

Danehill (USA) appears twice in his pedigree, above fourth damsire Flying Spur and above Zoustar’s damsire Redoute’s Choice, which leaves the door open for White to exploit the well-proven cross of Zoustar over Snitzel mares.

“We know the Zoustar–Snitzel nick is elite, and you can see that it works with the female family thanks to Campione D’Italia, but you could also send I Am Invincible mares to him,” he said. “I also think that Shamardal mares would be a really great complement, you would be doubling up on the Helen Street blood that comes into the pedigree via Street Cry.”

All of it adds up to Espionage being a natural addition to the roster.

“Sons of Zoustar were the two most popular first season sires in Victoria last season, and the third was Move To Strike,” White said. “So when Zoustar is dominating the market down here, that tells you what the market wants, and you have got to listen to that.

“You need to look at all the options available and make the best decision for the farm, but it makes it a lot easier to pull the trigger when he is a son of Zoustar who is something a little different to what we already have.”