Zoustar Filly Tops Final Day of Adelaide Yearling Sale

A filly by Widden Stud's flagship stallion Zoustar (AUS) came out on top as the curtain came down on the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale March 18. Consigned by Baramul Stud, the filly sold to Blueblood Thoroughbreds in conjunction with Ciaron Maher Racing for AU$350,000 (US$222,519, US$1=AU$0.64), which saw her finish AU$90,000 in front of the second-top lot, a daughter of Written Tycoon (AUS) that was sold by Yulong to Chinese investor Wei Jiaoqi for AU$260,000 during the March 17 opening day of the sale. Offered in the catalog as Lot 255, the filly was the sole Zoustar yearling to sell during the two-day sale with the other lot to be offered, a colt that was also consigned by Baramul, failing to meet his AU$200,000 reserve by AU$10,000. "I usually would come down here to look for some value and take home a few cheapies, but in this case, quite the opposite," Blueblood Thoroughbreds' racing manager David Mourad told ANZ Bloodstock News. "She was just a clear standout for us, this Zoustar filly, and I don't think there'll be many that disagree with that. So we had to be strong on her, but we just didn't want to leave the sale without her, so we were very excited to have been able to purchase her." The filly is out of the winning Swiss Ace mare Beauty Betty and she is herself out of the stakes-placed winner Ugly Betty, making her a sister to the listed scorer and group 1 place-getter Huka Eagle. Lot 255 was the third lot to be purchased by Blueblood Thoroughbreds over the two-day sale, while they would go on to secure another three yearlings later in the day to take that total up to six. Overall, the two-day Adelaide Yearling Sale saw 455 lots cataloged, up from 452 in 2024, and a total of 293 of those sold (76%), which was down from 306 last year (79%). There were 81 lots passed in last year, whereas a total of 91 passed in this time. The overall spending stats were also down this year, with the sale grossing AU$14,348,500 (US$9,122,345), down from AU$15,379,500 in 2024, and the average of AU$48,971 (US$31,134), median of AU$32,500 (US$20,663), and top price of AU$350,000 (US$222,519) all representing drops from the previous year. However, despite this, Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch felt the sale was in line with his expectations, telling ANZ: "I think today (Day 2) was a very similar sale to yesterday (Day 1). Obviously the clearance rate has improved a little bit and the average has held and all in all I think it's been a pleasing couple of days without anything too outstanding. "It was very much in line with (my expectations). I think it showed this week that quality horses are still making plenty of money. We sold more horses for six figures than we did last year and I think last year we had some more significant horses than what we did this year. So we'll look to our local breeders to support this sale with their better horses going forward."