Zoustar Gelding Claims Top Prize at Sydney Royal

Tara Madgwick - Saturday April 6

Success comes in all shapes and sizes and for the Bowness Stud bred Zoustar gelding Zounate, that success has come in the show ring with the eight year-old gelding taking out the 2024 Pope Cup at Sydney Royal last week for the best show hacks in Australia over 15 hands.

Riley Kent and 8YO Zoustar gelding Chorus - racing name Zounate.

Bred by John North and his family at Bowness, the handsome chestnut was offered at the 2018 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale where he was bought by Elite Thoroughbreds for $80,000 by Elite Thoroughbreds.

Zounate made $80,000 at Inglis Premier in 2018.

Trained first by Gary Portelli and then Tony Gollan, Zounate was racing consistently, but struggling to break through racking up 11 placings in maiden class before being offered through Inglis Digital in April 2021 where he made $20,000 and was transferred to Mt Isa.

Advertisement

Zounate raced successfully retiring in August 2022.

He won first up for his new connections winning by  six lengths at Mt Isa and raced on until August 22 winning two more races and retiring with the overall record of three wins  and 13 placings from 32 starts with prizemoney topping $77,000.

From there Zounate found his way into the care of leading Queensland show rider Riley Kent and his flashy chestnut good looks have made him a favourite in the show ring under his new name of Chorus.

Click to see video of the full Pope Cup class, workouts and presentation.

Zounate is the best of three winners from winning Choisir mare Fascinating, a full sister to stakes-winner Choistar. She has a yearling filly by D’Argento and was sold last year on Inglis Digital for $900.

 

Zounate aka Chorus might not be the best racehorse sired by Widden Stud’s champion sire Zoustar, but he is the best in the show ring!

 

 

Advertisment
More Reading...
Luberon Keeps Winning Run Going for Cambridge Stud
Quality mare Luberon put a classy field of sprinters to the sword at Pukekohe on Saturday when she dashed away in the closing stages to score a handsome victory in the Gr.3 Haunui Farm Counties Bowl (1100m).
Sires With Winners - Thursday November 21
Here is the full list of 32 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Savabeel Stayer wins G3 Counties Cup
Promising stayer Nereus put his current campaign back on track when he captured an action packed Gr.3 TAB Counties Cup (2100m) on Saturday.
City of Troy Crowned 2024 Cartier European Horse of the Year
Outstanding Justify colt City of Troy was crowned Horse of the Year at the 2024 Cartier awards on Wednesday night in London at a star studded ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel.
Kiwi Bred Comeback King Globe wins Cranbourne Cup
The super-talented Globe put a troubled 14 months behind him with a powerful all-the-way win in Saturday’s A$500,000 Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m).
Gringotts Continues Kiwi Winning Run in $1million The Gong
Kiwi bred Gringotts continued his coming-of-age campaign with a powerhouse front-running performance under 60kg to win Saturday’s Group III A$1 million The Illawarra Mercury Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange.
Barnstorming Win by Headwall in the Warra
The super-consistent Headwall reaped a just reward in the $300,000 Group III Snap Print Solutions Wollongong The Warra (1000m) at Kembla Grange.
Cambridge Stud News
It’s been the spring that keeps giving for Cambridge Stud and it’s not over yet.
Another Feature Win for La Crique
La Crique sprouted wings in the Pukekohe straight on Saturday to come from a near-hopeless position and win the Gr.2 Dunstan Horsefeeds Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) in a photo finish.
Royal Winner Bred on Magic Cross
The Fastnet Rock x Galileo cross is a formidable one and has produced this spring’s elite Group I winners Via Sistina (IRE) and Buckaroo (GB) with another lightly raced import bred the same way opening his account at Kembla on Saturday carrying the colours of King Charles and Queen Camilla.