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| Sumita Pawar |
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Widden Stud's service fees for its 2024 stallion roster were unveiled on 1st May, placing Zoustar alongside the reigning champion Australian stallion I Am Invincible. Though currently ranked second on the Australian general sires' table this season, Zoustar has outperformed his rivals by winning 173 races and being equal with I Am Invincible on stakes winners.
Antony Thompson, Widden principal, has raised the bar for Zoustar's fee in recognition of his accomplishments on the racecourse and in the sales ring. The fee has been increased to AU$275,000 (US$179,431, AU$1=US$0.6531), matching the same mark set earlier this week for I Am Invincible. Despite the sires' ranks being predominantly dominated by I Am Invincible and Snitzel over the past seven years, Zoustar has continued his impressive streak.
Zoustar has produced 21 stakes winners globally since 1st August, including Zougotcha, Joliestar, Ozzmosis, and Climbing Star, the winner of the Gr.1 Robert Sangster Stakes on 27th April. These accomplishments have made him one of Australia's most successful stallions, with his yearlings grossing over AU$40 million this year, including a filly that sold for AU$2.2 million and a colt that fetched AU$1.9 million at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
After five seasons, Zoustar did not reverse shuttle to Tweenhills in the United Kingdom this year. In 2023, he stood for AU$220,000, with speculation that his fee could have been as high as AU$330,000 this year.
However, Thompson believes that Zoustar's fee of AU$275,000 is a conservative step this year and that the demand for him will remain high.
"We're probably in a position where price isn't that important with a horse of his caliber with the value of the mares that are going to him and the people who want to breed to him, so he's probably not as price sensitive as a lot of the other stallions in the market at the moment," Thompson told ANZ Bloodstock News.
"The demand will be very strong for him, but we just thought it wasn't a year to be too aggressive. Across the board, we're trying to be quite conservative and we thought that was a conservative sort of step this year (for Zoustar).
"Year-on-year he keeps eclipsing his previous season's mark and when you look at it now ... he's the leading sire of Group One winners, stakes winners, winners and he is closing in on AU$20 million in prize money earnings and AU$40 million in sales for the year."