Youngstar truly bred for Oaks success
Ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, Youngstar had to overcome difficulties apart from the rain affected going but the Chris Waller-trained filly was still able to finish strongly for a narrow victory, her fourth in a row from only seven starts.
Youngstar defeated Another Dollar (Ocean Park) by a nose with Sheezdashing (Myboycharlie) just a half-head further back in third place.
The 22nd Group One winner for her much missed Coolmore sire High Chaparral (Sadler’s Wells), Youngstar rounded out a memorable Australian season for her late father whose son Rekindling triumphed in the 2017 Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m), another son, Ace High, capturing the 2017 Victoria Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) and Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) and another daughter, Hiyaam, taking the Vinery Stud Stakes (registered as Storm Queen Stakes) (Gr 1, 2000m) before finishing second in the Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m).
High Chaparral (1999), sire to date of 113 stakes winners worldwide, died suddenly in Ireland in early 2014 shortly after his return from Australia at the end of the 2013 stud season.
When racing High Chaparral was a classic champion in Europe, his six Group One successes including The Derby (Gr 1, 1m4f) and the Irish Derby (Gr 1, 1m 4f) but importantly he was as much renowned for his fighting qualities as well as his class and stamina.
Earlier shuttle seasons in New Zealand for High Chaparral resulted in such racing stars as So You Think, Dundeel, Shoot Out, Monaco Consul, Descarado and other top class performers and it is fortunate that a number of his best racing sons will be available as sires this season in both Australia and New Zealand.
Standing in Australia will be Alpine Eagle (Armidale Stud, Tasmania), Dundeel (Arrowfield Stud, NSW), Free Eagle (Cornerstone Stud, South Australia), So You Think (Coolmore, NSW) and Toronado (Swettenham Stud, Victoria), while in New Zealand five sons will be in service, most notably Contributer (Mapperley Stud), Redwood (Westbury Stud), Tivaci (Waikato Stud) and Wrote (Highview Stud).
Reference to the pedigree potential of Youngstar to capture a classic was not just confined to the influence of her sire but also to the quality of her female side through her imported dam Starspangled (Danehill), astutely bought for only $30,000 carrying the future Oaks winner when offered by Coolmore at the 2014 Inglis Australian Easter Broodmare Sale in Sydney.
Her buyer then was Bowness Stud proprietor John North acting for client John Sheather who now has the honour of breeding a classic winner with the first foal he returned to the Australian Stud Book.
Youngstar as a yearling was sent to the 2016 Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale in the Bowness Stud draft where she provided her novice breeder with a handsome return, fetching $200,000 to the bid of Anton Koolman Bloodstock whose Unifaith Bloodstock now races her with a number of partners, among them John and Karen Sheather and Arthur and Charlotte Inglis whose familiar family colours are carried by the filly.
Starspangled, a winner in Ireland, has now produced four winners from six foals to race, best of her earlier foals being Eleven Seconds (Encosta de Lago), a stakes-placed winner of $210,925 in Western Australia. Her two-year-old Brilliant Mind (So You Think) is showing promise in Sydney while to come for the mare are a yearling filly by Adelaide (Galileo) and a weanling colt by Dissident (Sebring).
User Friendly (Slip Anchor), Youngstar’s second dam, was ranked as the best staying three-year-old in Europe in 1992 with an annual Timeform rating of 128 after a string of important victories which included The Oaks (Gr 1, 1m4f), the Irish Oaks (Gr 1, 1m4f), the Yorkshire Oaks (Gr 1, 1m4f) and the St. Leger (Gr 1, 1m6f) before finishing second to Subotica (Pampabird) in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m) and an unplaced effort in the 1992 Japan Cup (Gr 1, 2400m). At four years User Friendly added the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (Gr 1, 2400m) to her impressive record.
At stud User Friendly produced eight winners including Starspangled’s stakes winning sister Downtown (Danehill).
Youngstar carries a 4m x 4m double of dual Derby winner and successful sire Shirley Heights (Mill Reef) plus an almost obligatory double of Northern Dancer (Nearctic) and a relatively rare double cross of Hugh Lupus (Djebel) to further enhance her staying credentials.