Zoustar Filly Tops Robust Somerville Sale

The yearling market bull run that began in Deauville, rattled through Doncaster and then Baden-Baden continued its momentum in Newmarket Sept. 6 at a strong second edition of the Tattersalls Somerville Sale.

A lively day of trading was capped by the sale of a well-related Zoustar  filly who went the way of Richard Hughes at 160,000 guineas (US $193,570), with the winning hand delivered from the back of the bustling bidders' area opposite the rostrum. Hidden behind the partition to the auctioneer's left was Louis Baudron, who filled the role of underbidder.

The filly was bred and sold by Plantation Stud, which failed to sell the youngster at last year's December Foal Sale at just 18,000 guineas ($21,777). However, she plainly had matured plenty in the intervening months, while her half brother Unanimous Consent  helped the page by winning the Woodhaven Stakes at Aqueduct.

Hughes was hoping for further updates as the Chad Brown-trained Unanimous Consent, a 150,000 guineas ($181,472) Book 1 buy, was set to contest the New Kent County Virginia Derby (G3) later Tuesday. His late rally fell short and he finished fourth.

"I loved her every time I saw her," Hughes said of the Zoustar filly. "She's going to take a bit of time, but we'll see how the brother gets on tonight. If he wins, she might be half price. I'd say he's a 115 (rated) horse. She's a very nice, clean filly with good movement. I haven't had any by Zoustar before but he's doing okay. She'll go to Tony McCoy to be broken in, they don't mess with him!"

Hughes said he couldn't name his client, but said with a smile, "He's a good one!"

The dam Fast Lily, who joined the Plantation broodmare band at a cost of €130,000 ($128,796) through Mags O'Toole, is a Fastnet Rock  half sister to Lowther Stakes (G2) winner Silk Blossom  and the dual group 3 scorer Mashoora , both of whom are by Barathea .

Tweenhills' Zoustar has sired eight European winners in his debut Northern Hemisphere crop, headed by the Princess Margaret Stakes (G3) victress Lezoo .

The sale of the 160,000 guineas Zoustar filly was not the only good result the Plantation Stud team enjoyed at the Somerville Sale, as the operation also saw Archie Watson, bidding with Oliver St Lawrence from down the stairwell opposite the rostrum, go to 120,000 ($138,264) for the Shalaa  colt out of Dream Dana.

The youngster is a sibling to two 95-rated performers in Dynamic Force and Operatic and is set to sport the colors of Victorious Racing, which rose to prominence with the Coventry Stakes success of the Watson-trained Bradsell .

"He's a lovely big colt who stood out to us from the beginning," said St Lawrence after signing the docket. "He appeared on a couple of trainers' lists, including Archie's, and he's done okay for us this year with a Coventry winner! That price was at the top end of what we thought he was going to make, but he's a lovely horse."

Dream Dana has bred two winners from as many runners and is out of Lidanna, who landed the Ballyogan Stakes (G3) during her time on the track. Lidanna bred eight winners, headed by City of York Stakes scorer Yaa Wayl , while another of her offspring is the listed-placed Lidanski, better known as the dam of Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp (G1) heroine Wizz Kid .

Watson also provided an update on Bradsell, saying: "He's okay, he's still in his rehab but will be back in full training in the winter. We'll go to a Commonwealth Cup trial and then the Commonwealth Cup, all being well," before St Lawrence added: "And then conquer the world from there!"

Like the Zoustar filly, the Shalaa colt was offered at the December Foal Sale but was retained at 20,000 guineas ($24,196). Reflecting on a productive day at the sales, Plantation stud manager James Berney said: "They're two very nice horses, and the idea with both of them was that they'd stand out, but those prices exceeded our expectations.

"We knew the Shalaa colt was very nice and the Zoustar filly has been very popular up here, everyone who saw her loved her and she showed herself off. She has improved greatly through the year and her brother's form has helped as well. Both of them are homebred and were offered here as foals and we didn't sell them, but today's been a great day at the office."

St Lawrence finished the sale as the leading purchaser with five lots secured for an outlay of 364,000 guineas ($440,373).

There was an unmissable level of competition on the vast number of lots, and by the close of play the clearance rate stood at 88% as 255 yearlings from an offering of 290 had found a new home. 

That helped generate some significant year-on-year gains across the other key indices, as turnover went up 56 percent to 7,746,200 guineas ($9,371,482), the average rose by 42% to 30,377 ($36,751), while the median increased from 16,250 ($18,723) to 26,000 ($31,455), fully 60%.

This follows on from 2021's inaugural renewal when the corresponding aggregate, average, and median figures rose by 112%, 85%, and 103%, respectively. The top lot 12 months ago was 120,000 guineas. 

At the close of trade, Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony commented: "Last year's inaugural Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale proved to be an immediate success, and today's second renewal has made further significant progress with wide-margin gains in all the key indicators of average, median, and turnover, as well as a new record top price for a Somerville yearling of 160,000 guineas.

"It was very apparent as we were inspecting yearlings in the spring that there was genuine enthusiasm for our newest yearling sale from both British and Irish consignors, and they have supported the fixture with exactly the profile of sharp, precocious, and commercial yearlings which we were looking for.

"To see the average and median prices both rise by more than 40% and the sale turnover increase from under five million guineas to well in excess of seven million guineas demonstrates a sale of real vibrance from start to finish. Equally impressive has been a clearance rate nudging 90% and the number of yearlings selling for 50,000 guineas ($60,491) or more, which has risen from 17 to 39, while six-figure transactions have increased from one to four."

He added: "The sheer number of buyers here at Park Paddocks over the past few days is also a reflection of the racecourse success enjoyed by so many graduates of last year's sale, most notably the group 2 Coventry Stakes winner Bradsell, and we look forward to similarly impressive results next year as well as to sustaining the momentum of today's sale into Books 1 to 4 of the forthcoming Tattersalls October Yearling Sale."