Zoustar Mare Sells for $1.525million on Inglis Digital

Winner of last year’s Group II ATC Furious Stakes, quality Zoustar mare North Star Lass topped the Inglis Digital Sale September (early) on Wednesday when selling for $1.525million to Yulong.

Trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, North Star Lass was a $260,000 Magic Millions purchase from Rosemont Stud for Gai Waterhouse/Adrian Bott/Kestrel Thoroughbreds, so has been an outstanding investment.

“You can still get that same buzz and excitement out of the result without being at a live auction and all the owners were absolutely delighted to achieve that price today,’’ Adrian Bott said.

“That’s the big benefit of Inglis Digital in that we had a filly who was ready to potentially retire and head straight to stud and the owners had this option to offer her to the market and give her a chance to realise her fair value in a timely manner.

“To have a strong market benchmark like Inglis Digital is a real asset for the industry and that was showcased again today.

“Gai and I are always trying to find these types of fillies, horses that will predominantly be forward and precocious types, she was purchased at reasonable value being by Zoustar, she got her black type and now sells for $1.525m. It’s fantastic for everyone.’’

North Star Lass was prepped for the September (Early) Sale at Ridgmont Farm in the Hunter Valley.

“Full credit to Mitch Cunningham, Chris Phillips and the team at Ridgmont, they were able to pull everything together at short notice, they’ve been very professional in their approach and helped us to achieve a great result for the owners.’’

Yulong’s Sam Fairgray confirmed North Star Lass would visit the farm’s leading stallion Written Tycoon this season.

“She’s a gorgeous mare, she was obviously a very good race mare, she raced against the best, coming up against the likes of In Secret, Zougotcha, She’s Extreme etc and was competitive against them,’’ Fairgray said.

“She’s a great physical and it’s just great to have her joining the broodmare band.

“She wasn’t easy to buy, there was proper competition there but the good ones are always very hard to get, especially if they’re attractive and tough race mares like her.

“Physically she’ll suit Written Tycoon really well and on paper it works well also. We also own the three-quarter sister, a 2YO by Zousain who is also with Gai and Adrian who are really happy with her.’’