A three-quarter sister-in-blood to triple Group I winner Zougotcha, Widden Stud’s Zoustar filly from stakes-winner The Actuary was always tipped to star at Inglis Easter on Monday morning and did not disappoint when selling for $2.6million.
She is the second foal of her dam and sparked keen competition before being knocked down to Resolute Racing for $2.6million which equalled the previous highest price for a filly by Zoustar. That was set by the subsequent stakes-winner Clean Energy, who was also bred and sold by Widden and purchased by Yulong in 2023 at Magic Millions.
“It’s been an exciting morning!” said Antony Thompson.
“Two lovely Zoustar’s through in the first hour and obviously The Actuary has been a star from day one and the filly has been much-admired this week, she's hardly seen a box. I think we had 260 parades for her by buyers from all parts of the world.
“I guess she had that X factor and had international appeal as well, so we're thrilled to see John Stewart of Resolute Racing successful. He made a big play here last year and has been a major investor globally, so for him to buy the filly is a real thrill and something we're really proud of.”
Widden have had a great run in the sale ring in recent years with the rise of Zoustar proving the catalyst for huge financial rewards on top of his racetrack success.
“It doesn't just happen, everything you do from investing in mares to doing the matings is about making sure every step of the way that everything's done right,” said Thompson.
“You know it only takes one little thing and it slips through your fingers, so with these really beautiful and valuable horses, you need a really good team of people and we're very lucky, we have that great team so it makes us really proud.”
Widden Stud have achieved great results at both Magic Millions and Inglis Easter, but there is something special about coming to Riverside Stables.
“Widden and Inglis have been around a long time and Easter has always been an elite sale and you know you do need to turn up with some serious horses, because the buyers here really know what they want and all the best judges are here,” Thompson added.
“For us to have a filly like her shine at Easter and stand out in ‘The Green Book’ is something that you know is pretty cool and it's a hard thing to do.”
By Widden Stud’s much missed sire Sebring, The Actuary is married to Zoustar and her first foal, a colt called Algorithmic, was bought by Yulong last year for $760,000 and she produced another colt by Zoustar last spring and is back in foal to him again.
The Actuary comes from the prolific Black Type ‘Crystal’ family nurtured by David Moodie’s Contract Racing to produce countless stakes-winners including Golden Slipper winner Crystal Lily.
The current star of the family is Zougotcha, who made $500,000 when she was offered at Inglis Easter by Widden in 2021 and went on to win over $2.5million. She is set to be offered at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in May and will undoubtedly sell for a huge sum!
