Widden success story Zoustar headlines two-state roster at $198,000
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Trapeze Artist, Written By and Zousain also have fees adjusted for 2022 breeding season
Zoustar (Northern Meteor) will stand for an increased service fee of $198,000 (all fees inc GST) on the back of sustained racetrack and sales ring success and he is the headline act of Widden Stud’s two-state, 17-strong stallion roster in 2022.
The historic family owned Widden Stud has confirmed its line-up in which its pin-up stallion Zoustar has had his fee 2021 boosted from $154,000 while young Hunter Valley-based barnmates, Written By (Written Tycoon) and Zousain (Zoustar), have also earned small fee increases for the upcoming breeding season.
The consistent Victorian stalwart Magnus (Flying Spur), who stands at Widden’s southern base after principal Antony Thompson took over the operation formerly run by Sun Stud early last year, has also earned a minor fee increase this year.
Zoustar, who reverse shuttles to Tweenhills in the UK, is the sire of 27 individual stakes winners and he has produced nine already this season including juvenile stakes winners Brereton and Millane, as well as the stakes-placed two-year-old colt Philosopher.
His yearlings have averaged $435,703 in Australia this year, helped in part by a decade-high price of $3 million paid last week for the Widden-bred and sold brother to champion filly Sunlight at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. Two other Zoustar yearlings also sold for $1 million or more last week in Sydney, his best-bred crop of yearlings to date.
Thompson last night revealed that Zoustar would have his workload carefully managed again this year with his mare numbers to be capped to around 160, the fewest he will have covered since his second season in 2015 (he covered 161 in 2020).
“This season he’s had some lovely stakes winners, been beaten a nose in a couple of Group 1s, and he has some really nice horses coming through and the major commercial breeders see him as a very significant stallion in the future,” Thompson told ANZ Bloodstock News of Zoustar.
“As he is shuttling, we are quite keen to limit his book to around 160, so that is part of the reason for the increase, although I am sure he will still be well over subscribed.
“Breeders are looking for blue chip proven sires and obviously Zoustar comes up on that list very highly. He is a lovely horse to mate to given the type of yearlings he throws and how commercial he is, so all those things add to his appeal.”
Widden Stud had already announced that Rebel Dane (California Dane), the sire of this season’s Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and Inglis Sires’ (Gr 1, 1400m) winner Fireburn, who will chase the two-year-old triple crown in Saturday’s ATC Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m), will stand in the Hunter Valley after five years at rival farms in Victoria.
He will stand for an increased fee of $27,500, the same fee that Widden’s other newcomer, 2021 Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) winner Portland Sky (Deep Field).
Thompson said breeders who had achieved strong results by breeding to Deep Field had committed to buying breeding rights in his son Portland Sky in the belief that he can carry the sireline on while news that Rebel Dane would stand in the Hunter had also elicited a response from breeders looking to tap into the stallion.
“We’ve already had more than 80 mares booked to Rebel Dane after that announcement, so he will cover his biggest book and best quality mares by a hundred yards at Widden this year,” he said.
Champion racehorse and high-profile young stallion Trapeze Artist (Snitzel), whose first crop yearlings have sold up to $850,000, had his fee reduced to $55,000 as he enters his fourth season at stud.
“He is great value when you see what the sons of Snitzel are doing, particularly Russian Revolution and Shamus Award, and Trapeze Artist is far and away the best son of Snitzel at stud,” the Widden principal said.
“His fee could have easily remained the same but, in his fourth year to ensure everyone gets to breed to him at a value fee, the decision was made by his owner Bert Vieira to drop him back a peg and that move will be very well received.”
Written By (Written Tycoon), the 2018 Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner, who was trained by Grahame Begg, will also stand for an increased fee of $27,500, up from $24,750, on the back of the yearling buying bench embracing his first crop stock and breeders supporting in numbers and in the quality of mares.
His yearlings have sold up to $410,000 and averaged $141,269 in Australia, with many of his best-bred horses entering the stables of Australasia’s leading trainers.
Group 2 winner and multiple Group 1-placed sprinter Zousain (Zoustar), whose first crop foals will be seen at the upcoming Australian weanling sales in NSW, Queensland and Victoria, has also had his fee increased from $19,800 to $22,000 on the back of his popularity with breeders.
Zousain covered 188 mares in his first year and an increased book of 214 mares last year, such was the impression his first crop foals left with many breeders who supported him in 2020.
The interest in Written By, which is of no surprise to Thompson, has necessitated a rise in service fee.
“He is a Blue Diamond winner, a champion two-year-old, who is by a champion sire and he is a cracking type of horse, so we were always confident when we saw his foals that he would be very well received in the yearling market, so it was definitely no surprise to see his yearlings sell very, very well,” he said.
“Everyone who has bred to him has scored a really nice goal and there’s great enthusiasm to go back to him this year.
“I think he is still really good value at $27,500. He is a very popular horse based on the early bookings we’ve received.”
Magnus, meanwhile, will stand for a fee of $16,500, up from $15,400, in his 15th year at stud where he will stand alongside Nicconi (Bianconi) ($22,000), Russian Camelot (Camelot) ($22,000) and Star Witness (Starcraft) ($14,300), among others, at Widden’s Victorian farm.
“It is a very solid line-up of stallions that we have in Victoria. There’s lots of horses there that catch the breeders’ eye and demand attention at their fees,” Thompson said.
“We think we’ve got some really nice stallions and cover a lot of bases for the Victorian breeders. They don’t need to send their mares interstate.”
Your Song (Fastnet Rock) and Outreach (Exceed And Excel) will not return to Widden’s Hunter Valley roster in 2022, while Palentino (Teofilo), Squamosa (Not A Single Doubt) and Ready For Victory (More Than Ready) will not stand at its Victoria operation later this year.
Bel Esprit (Royal Academy), best-known as the sire of unbeaten champion mare Black Caviar and the dam sire of Vinery Stud’s young dual Group 1-winning stallion Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon), has also been pensioned.