'An international Group 1 win adds an enormous amount of value to her' - Australian sprint star ready for Royal Ascot

Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources or find out more here

Top Australian sprinter Joliestar will bid to enhance her status as one of the world’s most valuable broodmare prospects when she heads to Royal Ascot for the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes next month.

The five-year-old, trained by Chris Waller, is the 2-1 favourite for the six-furlong contest after victory in the Group 1 T.J. Smith Stakes. Japanese challenger Satono Reve, who was beaten half a length in the race last year, is next best at 6-1.

Joliestar, a five-time top-level winner, will continue her preparations with a barrier trial at Flemington on Friday before flying to Britain on June 3. She will stay with Charlie Hills in Lambourn.

Owned by Cambridge Stud, Joliestar already boasts an exceptional pedigree and chief executive Henry Plumptre said victory at the royal meeting would add major international appeal to her broodmare resume.

“If she can add that international Group 1 to her domestic CV in Australia, I think it adds an enormous amount of value to her,” he said.

“Some people think that once they get past three Group 1s, their value doesn’t increase by much, but if you’re an international breeder and you’re looking at a mare that’s got form in England and form in Australia at Group 1 level, you’re thinking, 'Well, that’s absolutely the pinnacle'."

Despite the race being worth more than £500,000 to the winner, Plumptre believes the value of recording a top-level success at Ascot holds greater importance.

He said: “The prize-money is okay, but getting another Group 1 is the most important part of it.”

A daughter of champion sire Zoustar, Joliestar is out of the Group 2 winner Jolie Bay and is closely related to fellow stakes winners Merchant Navy, Setanta and Legally Bay.

Combined with her five Group 1 victories and nine stakes wins overall, that pedigree has already made her one of the standout broodmare prospects in training.

Joliestar has not raced since her Randwick success on April 4, but has had trials at Warwick Farm and Rosehill as Waller, who on Saturday trained his 200th Group 1 winner, fine-tunes her preparation.

Plumptre said the mare had pleased connections in her latest piece of work despite testing ground conditions.

“I was there on Tuesday at Rosehill; she had a jumpout [trial] with a few others,” he said. “With these jumpouts, Chris is just trying to keep a lid on things. The track was very wet and the jockey didn’t really let her go."

Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (Ascot, June 20)
bet365: 2 Joliestar, 11-2 Lazzat, 6 Satono Reve, 12 Comanche Brave, Lugal, 14 Flora Of Bermuda, Lake Forest, Overpass, 20 Double Rush, Kind Of Blue, Night Raider, Rayevka, 25 bar.

Read more:

Australia: 'universally loved and admired' veteran jockey Shane McGovern dies at 67 

Australian Group 1 winner Lady Of Camelot retired following freak stingray attack 

'We want to test her against the best of Europe and Australia' - US sprint star heads to Royal Ascot for King Charles III Stakes bid 

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.