Heavyweight sires back in ring for first stakes race of the season
I Am Invincible’s Zarastro to square off against Zoustar runners in Aurie’s Star Handicap
Trainer Tony Gollan is confident born-again sprinter Zarastro (I Am Invincible) can represent his sire powerfully when I Am Invincible’s (Invincible Spirit) tussle with Zoustar (Northern Meteor) resumes without delay in the first stakes race of the season, Saturday’s Aurie’s Star Handicap (Gr 3, 1200m) at Flemington.
Fresh from their battles to end 2023-24, the two heavyweight sires step back into the ring just three days later when $4.40 second–favourite Zarastro takes on Zoustar’s Right To Party and The Astrologist – the $3.70 second-favourite and $6 third elect respectively.
Yarraman Park’s now 20-year-old I Am Invincible ran away with his third–straight Australian general sires’ title in the season that ended on Wednesday, finishing with progeny earnings of $32.16 million.
Widden’s Zoustar ranked second by money, with $24.06 million, but was able to land two solid blows against his great rival.
The 14-year-old was a runaway leader by winners, matching I Am Invincible’s national record of 208 and comfortably eclipsing his season second-ranking of 175. For good measure Zoustar’s total came from 369 runners therefore operating at 56.37 per cent winners to runners, while his rival’s came from 375 runners at 46.66 per cent. Zoustar also had a national-high 364 wins to second-ranked Vinnie’s 291.
Zoustar also led the country for stakes winners, with 17 to I Am Invincible’s 15, though the latter held sway by stakes wins, with 29 to 27.
The pair cleared out from the rest of the field by most markers decided solely by the winning post. Written Tycoon (Iglesia) ranked third by winners (168), and by wins with 277 – nearly a century behind Zoustar.
Daylight was third for stakes wins, with a three-way tie on 12 between Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), Savabeel (Zabeel) and Pride Of Dubai (Street Cry), while Snitzel took third for stakes winners with 12.
Pinecliff Racing’s homebred Right To Party will earn “boom horse” honours if she can seal a hat-trick of victories in her 12th start, the four-year-old having won her past two up the Flemington straight including her last–start stakes breakthrough in the Creswick Sprint Series Final (Listed, 1200m) on July 6.
The Astrologist is now an eight-year-old but has earned the reputation as a straight track specialist, with 19 goes up that course for three wins and eight placings. His record includes a win in this race in 2021, plus a second and third in the Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m) in 2022 and 2024 respectively.
Zarastro has had one try at the course, for a fourth in the 2022 Moomba Plate (Listed, 1100m). That came amidst his nine starts for his first trainer, Chris Waller.
While he won two of them in town and was placed in another, his wasn’t the type of form to justify the $1.05 million Waller and Guy Mulcaster paid for him at the Magic Millions Gold Coast sale of 2020. Nor could it sustain his stay in Waller’s stable, and he was sold on Inglis Digital to Gollan for just $32,500 in October, 2022.
The Queensland sunshine – and the stables of the now 11-time Brisbane premier trainer Gollan – have led to quite the turn-around for the son of the Group 2-winning mare Adrift (Zabeel), a three-quarter sister to Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) hero Maldivian (Zabeel).
From 13 starts for Gollan, Zarastro has won six, including five in a six-race Brisbane sequence in 2023 ended by his first two Listed successes. After a frustrating run of five unplaced runs on the bounce, he returned to winning ways last start in the winter carnival’s WJ Healy Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Eagle Farm five weeks ago.
In his time with Gollan he’s earned $550,000, a fair return on that $32,500 Inglis Digital price.
Now six, Zarastro returns to Flemington with his trainer quietly confident of a far better showing this time, even accepting the Aurie’s Star has drawn a small but high quality field of eight.
He also hopes Zarastro, who has topweight of 58 kilograms for Jamie Kah, can repeat a particularly happy memory. Gollan’s first of 29 Group winners so far came through Temple Of Boom (Piccolo) in the Aurie’s Star of 2011.
“It’s ideal for him, the space between runs. He’s only had a week to freshen and come back in with this race in mind,” Gollan said, adding expectations of fine weather and a track improvement from Friday’s Soft 5 were also encouraging.
“He’s settled in well in Melbourne. I’m really happy with him. He worked in quite wet ground there on Tuesday morning, but he’s come through the gallop nicely and settled in well. He’s fit, well and healthy.
“The straight always poses that question when horses are not so familiar with it, but he’s always given me the feel of a really nice straight horse.
“He’s got a fantastic jockey on board. The Flemington straight six holds no real concerns for me and I guess we’ll know more on Saturday, but he’s in good order.”
While Right To Party is the more fancied Zoustar runner, trainer Troy Corstens has warned punters not to overlook The Astrologist as he lines up for the first run of an all-straight track campaign.
“We’re going to really restrict him to straight runs this prep, which luckily there’s quite a lot of coming up,” Corstens, who trains in partnership with his father Leon, told ANZ, adding the move was more about the gelding’s preference than his knees.
“It’s not about preserving him at all. He just runs better down the straight than around a corner.
“So, if there’s going to be an open straight race at Flemington over 1200 metres in the next 12 weeks you’ll probably see The Astrologist in it. I’d love to get him into the Champions Sprint on the last day of the Cup carnival. That’d be a bit of a grand final if we can get him there.”
For now, Corstens believes The Astrologist is primed for a typically bold straight run second-up after a fourth in the Santa Ana Lane Sprint Series Final (Listed, 1200m) at the same course on July 6, where he finished behind another of this weekend’s rivals in It’sourtime (Time For War).
That marked The Astrologist’s resumption after a short break following two failures around bends at Caulfield and Moonee Valley.
Corstens nominated four-time straight winner It’sourtime as hardest to beat, but notes The Astrologist meets him five kilograms better at the weights this time thanks to a drop from 60 to 57.5 kilograms.
“He’s really well. I’m very pleased with him. He’s come on since that last run, I’m looking forward to the drop in weight, and I think he can run very well,” Corstens said, adding The Astrologist was showing no signs of ageing.
“He hasn’t changed since he was four. He’s a tremendous horse and an absolute pleasure to have in the stables. He’s lovely and sound – we get a few feet issues here and there, but he’s generally very well.
“He was first up last start, but only after a short spell. We just backed off him a little bit for a couple of weeks, because he takes a very long time to come back from a general spell, so we don’t actually give him long at all. We just freshen him up.”