Bowness-bred Zoustar colt makes stunning late-season impression
Coolmore-owned Starman has bigger things in store after eye-catching Kensington victory
In a season in which the fertile grounds of Bowness Stud has already produced Group 1-winning filly Media Award (Shamus Award) and $2.7 million mare Funstar (Adelaide), James Daly hopes the southern NSW farm has unearthed another budding high-class horse who can fly the flag for the family-run operation into the new racing year.
The Bowness-bred-and-sold Starman (Zoustar) made a startling late-season appearance to trounce his rivals in the final Sydney metropolitan two-year-old race of the season yesterday, in a performance which is unlikely to see the colt presented at the midweeks again any time soon.
Trainer Chris Waller had taken a patient approach with Starman, giving him five barrier trials across three preparations before unveiling him on the Kensington track at Randwick and it appears to have been justified given the manner of his victory.
“He has a really good foundation for this first-up assignment,” Starman’s jockey James McDonald said.
“He has been held back and held up and astutely placed, so he was here to perform well. He got the firmer surface that he needs and he showed brilliant acceleration – he’s a lovely horse.
“To be fair to the staff at Waller’s, they’ve always liked him. (His track rider) who rides most of the babies, he labelled him a pretty good horse right from early days, but he took a while to come to hand.
“They will be reaping the rewards from now on, for sure.”
Raced by the Coolmore colts partnership, which includes Sir Peter Vela, Woppitt Bloodstock’s Debbie Kepitis, Peachester Lodge’s Graham and Linda Huddy and Rob McClure, Starman won by one and a quarter lengths over Mikasa (Maurice) and Taizai (Maurice) who was another three-quarters of a length away in the Vinery Stud Handicap (1100m).
Starman was purchased for $500,000 from the Bowness draft at the 2020 Magic MIllions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, a big result by any scale, but even more so considering Daly and his father-in-law, Bowness Stud principal John North, paid just $3,500 for his mother You’re Dreamin’ (Commands) at the 2016 Inglis Sydney Weanling and Broodmare Sale.
“You don’t know what they’ve got until they do it, but what I had heard was positive and I heard James McDonald on the radio just before he raced and he was quite positive on him as well, so he is obviously doing the right things for them.
“They’ve looked after him. I think that was the last two-year-old race of the season. They held him up until he was ready to roll.”
As often alluded to over and over again, timing can mean everything in racing and breeding but Daly would also like to think that the success of Australasian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) winner Media Award and the massive sale-ring return on investment with Starman – and potential racetrack rewards to come – was a nod to the experience and nous of North.
“John’s been doing it for a long time and he’s reaping a bit of the reward for his experience, I suspect, and the farm’s doing well. We’ve got some good systems in place and the staff is doing their job well and that all makes a difference,” Daly said.
“If you can breed a type, present it well and put the runs on the board with other horses off the farm, you can potentially get that (big sale) result.
“The best thing is, if it comes off for the connections, that’s what I like to see because that makes everyone happy and hopefully they look to come back (and buy) again.”
Waller’s stable foreman Damien Fitton says Starman is one of a talented group of rising three-year-olds owned by the Coolmore syndicate, with Silver Slipper Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) winner Home Affairs (I Am Invincible) another member of the cohort.
“(Starman) just needed a bit of time to mature and you want to be coming to the races on the back of some good form at the trials,” Fitton said post-race.
“He has just taken a bit more time than usual, but he’s strung together some nice trials this preparation and today was D-day for him and he got the job done.
“He will train-on enormously from today. He still looks a bit wooly in the coat; there’s a lot of improvement to come and it’s onwards and upwards.”
Since foaling Starman, You’re Dreamin’ has been unable to get in foal – until she was mated last year to Bowness Stud’s first season sire D’Argento (So You Think).
“She has a chequered history in the past couple of seasons getting her in foal and I suppose that is how we came across her originally at that price,” Daly said.
“We have had some misfortune since and that may be the stallion and some of the reason might be the mare but she has done everything right this season and she did everything right before Starman.
“Maybe she is just one of those mares who potentially needs a year off or she might be able to throw a few in a row now.
“We looked to give D’Argento every chance and it is going to make a big difference if he’s got some nice relations on the ground (for when his stock goes to) the sales, that’s for sure. It’s quite exciting.”
Bargain $5,000 Inglis Melbourne Gold Yearling Sale graduate Media Award’s dam Music Media (More Than Ready) is due to foal to fellow resident Bowness stallion Bon Hoffa (Belong To Me) this year and Daly revealed they were now contemplating sending her back to Shamus Award (Snitzel) at Rosemont Stud in Victoria.
“We are not 100 per cent sure what we will do with her this year yet, but potentially we will breed a full relation to Media Award,” he said.
“We will just have to work out what we do there, but certainly Shamus Award is doing quite well. There’s a few options given she’s thrown a Group 1 winner now.”
The Jack Sheather-bred Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Funstar, who was raised at Bowness, also provided another graduate of the NSW south west slopes region and she provided her racing owners with a thrill and a financial shot in the arm when selling as a broodmare prospect for $2.7 million earlier this month.
Starspangled (Danehill), Funstar and fellow Group 1 winner Youngstar’s (High Chaparral) dam, resides at North and Daly’s property near Young and is currently in foal to Churchill (Galileo).
Bowness Stud sold Starspangled’s Pierro (Lonhro) yearling for $500,000 at this year’s Magic Millions sale in January to trainers Richard and Michael Freedman.