Zoustar rises again after Widden’s champion stallion enjoys stellar season
Son of Northern Meteor to stand for pre-Covid level of $154,000 in 2021
Zoustar (Northern Meteor) will return to his pre-Covid service fee of $154,000 (all fees inc GST) after a stellar season highlighted by Zoutori’s Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m) success this autumn.
The champion stallion, the sire of 13 individual stakes winners in 2020-21 which takes his career tally to 22, heads the Widden Stud stallion roster which principal Antony Thompson has expanded to Victoria after taking on the property previously home to Sun Stud.
Thompson will oversee a roster of 21 stallions – 12 in Victoria and nine in NSW – and he has no qualms about increasing Zoustar’s fee in 2021 after standing for $121,000 last year.
“When we set the fees last year Covid had just struck and there was a little bit of apprehension about where the industry was going and what was happening, but we’ve got through that very well and far better than we ever expected, so service fees have returned to where they were,” Thompson explained yesterday.
“For a young stallion Zoustar certainly continues to do an outstanding job and I think the breeders recognise the types of yearlings you get and the results you can get, not only in the sales ring but on the track, hence he’s been very, very popular with early bookings.”
Zoustar, who shuttles to Tweenhills in the UK, has two runners in Saturday’s Robert Sangster Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), Mizzy and Sisstar, while three-year-old colt Ranting also runs at Morphettville, contesting the Tobin Bronze Stakes (registered as the Euclase Stakes) (Gr 2, 1200m).
This year, his yearlings are averaging $266,695 (110 sold) and he has had three lots make $1 million or more.
“We’re excited about his first yearlings hitting the sales rings in Europe later this year, so that will be a really good thing to see and hopefully he can duplicate up there what he’s done down here,” he said.
“But given he is shuttling, we don’t want to cover too many mares in this season. We just want to try and look after him and we will try and keep a cap on his book (to around 150).”
There is plenty of anticipation about how the market receives the first weanlings, and later yearlings, by Trapeze Artist (Snitzel), a champion sprinter raced by Sydney owner-breeder Bert Vieira.
His fee has been reduced from $77,000 to $66,000 this year as he enters his third season while fellow young Widden stallion Written By (Written Tycoon), a Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner, had his fee slightly increased to $24,750, the same it was when he retired to stud in 2019.
“Trapeze Artist has got some very good-looking foals out there. He himself was the highest-rated sprinter in the world and he’s entering his third season, as is Written By, and I think with those two horses we can look forward to presenting their yearlings next year and I’m sure they’ll be very, very popular,” he said.
Trapeze Artist has two foals at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale while another five will be offered at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale. Written By has six in Sydney and five on offer on the Gold Coast.
Anders (Not A Single Doubt), who Widden purchased last year after the colt won the San Domenico Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m), has already had his fee of $16,500 announced.
Thompson said: “He’s a ‘look and book’ kind of stallion, like Zousain was last year. He had great speed and he is a fabulous looking horse with some pedigree, so I think he’s very well priced at his introductory fee.”
New era as Widden enters Victoria
Twelve stallions will stand on the inaugural Widden Victoria roster with Hunter Valley mainstays and Group 1-producing sires Nicconi (Bianconi) ($27,500) and Star Witness (Starcraft) ($16,500) relocating south for the 2021 season.
Widden had already announced dual Group 1 winner Russian Camelot (Camelot) ($22,000) and Group 2-winning sprinter Doubtland (Not A Single Doubt) ($16,500) as newcomers to the Victorian roster.
Thompson believes the proven stallions, alongside the new recruits and the well-known Victorian stallions on the books such as Magnus (Flying Spur), has Widden well-armed to make an immediate impression across the border.
Specifically on Russian Camelot, the northern hemisphere-bred stallion who was educated and raced solely in Australia, Thompson said: “We’ve had a good response to him from Victorian breeders and we’ve also had quite a few New Zealand breeders who are looking at sending mares over or if they get fillies from off the track over here to send to him.
“He’s a pretty special horse and there’s been plenty of people looking at sending the Zabeel mares and the classic fillies to him and others who are looking at sending more precocious mares to him as well.”
Thompson, like most studmasters, said he would be entering the mares market in the hope of acquiring suitable mares for the Widden roster.
“It will be price dependent, but we’re always on the lookout for nice mares. We will see what we can find,” he said.
“We will be looking for mares for our three new stallions, so we’re doing a fair bit of work on the pedigrees now to try and find mares who are really going to suit them.”
As for the overall view of the Australian breeding and racing industry, he added: “It’s a great time to be in the horse industry.
“There’s a lot of good things happening and I am really enjoying everything that it’s bringing us at the moment.”
Widden Stud stallion roster
2021 (2020)
NSW
Zoustar (Northern Meteor) $154,000 ($121,000)
Trapeze Artist (Snitzel) $66,000 ($77,000)
Written By (Written Tycoon) $24,750 ($22,000)
Zousain (Zoustar) $19,800 (unchanged)
Anders (Not A Single Doubt) $16,500 (new)
Your Song (Fastnet Rock) $8,800 (unchanged)
Supido (Sebring) $8,800 (unchanged)
Stratum Star (Stratum) $8,800 (unchanged)
Outreach (Exceed And Excel) $4,400 ($5,500)
Victoria
Nicconi (Bianconi) $27,500 (unchanged)
Russian Camelot (Camelot) $22,000 (new)
Star Witness (Starcraft) $16,500 ($22,000)
Doubtland (Not A Single Doubt) $16,500 (new)
Magnus (Flying Spur) $15,400 (unchanged)
Palentino (Teofilo) $11,000 ($14,300)
Fiorente (Monsun) $11,000 ($17,600)
National Defense (Invincible Spirit) $9,900 (unchanged)
Thronum (Snitzel) $7,700 (unchanged)
Bel Esprit (Royal Academy) $7,700 (unchanged)
Squamosa (Not A Single Doubt) $4,400 (unchanged)
Ready For Victory (More Than Ready) $4,400 (unchanged)
*all fees inclusive of GST