Tweenhills Stud shuttler Zoustar supplies first seven-figure yearling

The popularity of Tweenhills Stud shuttler Zoustar in Australia was in evidence once again during Thursday's second session of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale as the stallion had a yearling break through the seven-figure barrier for the first time.

YuLong Investments and Rifa Mustang went to A$1.075 million (£605,400/€670,000), the highest price ever paid for a yearling by Australia's reigning champion first-season sire, to secure the KBL Thoroughbreds-consigned colt, who will head into training with Chris Waller.

“We’ve been looking to find a really nice colt and we found this Zoustar,” said YuLong general manager Sam Fairgray. “From day one when we inspected him he looked a fast, precocious horse who moved well. He has a great temperament and we’re really excited to be able to add him to the YuLong team.

“To be able to take him through and hopefully win a Group 1 two-year-old race with him and then stand him at our property would be fantastic.”

The choice of Chris Waller as trainer is no surprise. Not only did Waller, the trainer of wondermare and Magic Millions graduate Winx, handle the racing career of Zoustar himself, but he is also responsible for the stallion's best-performed colts to date in Zousain and Lean Mean Machine.

He also recently took over the training of Group 3 placegetter The August, an I Am Invincible half-brother to Thursday's Zoustar acquisition.

Zoustar team urge ambitious British breeders to 'wake up' and take notice

KBL Thoroughbreds’ Andrew Bowcock said: “Most breeders dream of a result like this. It all comes down to having the right article that ticks all the boxes. You need all the ducks to line up, and today they did. I knew he was a good horse, we just needed people to receive him well."

He added: “The mare is now in foal to Sebring, hopefully we’ll get another colt to sell. She might go back to Zoustar again this year.”

Redoute's Choice demand not slowing down

Yearlings by former champion Redoute's Choice continued to prove hot property during Thursday's session, the Arrowfield Stud flagbearer providing the top lot of the day, 24 hours after doing the same during the opening session.

James Harron, who bought only one yearling on Wednesday for his high-powered colts syndicate, kept his powder dry until going hard for a Segenhoe Stud Australia-consigned colt with a winning A$1.4 million (£789,725/€872,185) bid.

Harron has already had success with the now Arrowfield Stud-based Pariah, also by Redoute’s Choice, and was determined to buy the session-topper, the second foal out of the stakes-placed Breakfast In Bed.

“I saw him at the farm about a month ago and he hasn’t turned a hair. He's a really progressive horse who came to the sale and prepped beautifully. He's a fantastic physical and has a wonderful family to back it up,” said Harron.

“I think everyone is targeting the medium-sized Redoute’s now as they are the ones that seem to be going forward. Not A Single Doubt is in the pedigree and they're very similar in physique, and Snitzel is also that medium-sized Redoute’s.”

Reflecting on the colt's preparation, Segenhoe Stud's Peter O'Brien said: “From the day he was born, he was an absolute standout.

“It sounds like rhetoric but it's really important that when you sell a good horse that it goes to a good home and there's no better home than with James Harron with the way they manage colts.”

Another son of Redoute's Choice reached seven figures earlier in Thursday's session, as James Moore won out in a protracted bidding duel that ended at A$1.075m.

The Newhaven Park-consigned colt is the second foal out of the three-time winner and stakes-performed mare Aware, herself a daughter of the Group 2 winner Media.

Newhaven Park’s John Kelly said: “He’s a lovely horse and has been since the day he was born and we couldn’t be more pleased.

“You don’t expect horses to make A$1 million, you just don’t. We always knew he was a lovely colt and we thought that if he came to the sale and performed well, that everyone liked his x-rays, that everyone liked his scope, then we’d be all right and that he’d sell well."

Number of bidders pleases Magic Millions boss

Thursday’s action saw the aggregate crash through the A$100m mark with two Book 1 sessions remaining.

The average compared with the same point of last year's sale is up ten per cent to A$251,578, while the median is holding steady at A$180,000.

“The most pleasing thing is the amount of bidders on these horses,” said Magic Millions’ managing director Barry Bowditch. “They’re not going in with two bidders on them, they’re having four or five bidders to a high level, especially when you get north of A$300,000 right through to A$1m.

“There’s a lot of people trying to participate and I’d like to think there is still a fair bit of money left in the market.”

Bowditch also reflected on the sales ring deeds of Redoute’s Choice which he believes is on the back of the success of star colt The Autumn Sun.

“Redoute’s Choice has come right back to the fore this year. We had some bluechip colts by him who have sold very, very well,” he said. “I Am Invincible, Zoustar and Written Tycoon are also having great sales. These are the horses that are hitting the board at the racetrack and the market is respecting that in sales ring.”

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