Widden stallion has a day out at opening session of Easter Sale.
A filly out of Group 1 winner Prompt Response put an exclamation mark on a red-letter day for star stallion Zoustar when she set a new mark for the highest-priced lot of the famous offering.
The Widden Stud-prepared filly sold to prominent bloodstock agent James Harron for $2.2 million.
It was a new record for the highest-priced yearling sold in Australia this year, a record that could stand for less than 24 hours with the filly out of Winx to be sold early on Monday afternoon.
Harron's buy is now Zoustar's third highest-priced yearling – behind the $3m colt and $2.6 filly who are full relations to Sunlight who have sold the previous two years – leap-frogging the colt who sold to Coolmore for $1.9 million earlier in the day.
The Widden stallion also had two fillies sell for $950,000 apiece on Monday, giving him four of the day's top six lots, which did not come as a surprise to Harron.
"He's been building a lot of momentum over the last few years and it's the blood you want to get into for long-term breeders," Harron said of Zoustar, a son of Northern Meteor.
"Obviously you want to get a result on the track, but long-term I think he's just going to be one of those incredibly important stallions here in Australia and he's really stamping himself with his colts and his fillies."
Harron's big buy, from a daughter of Beneteau whose standout win came in the Tatt's Tiara, was for an undisclosed client who fully expected to have pay a top-end price for one of the fillies of the sale.
"We knew we'd have to push very hard for her, it was our top pick in the sale and no doubt a lot of other people's as well, so you've got to be strong on those ones," Harron said.
"But to try to produce a product like that is very difficult – you'd have to breed a lot of horses and spend a lot of money on very high-end mares to produce that product – so you do have to expect to push hard and we're just very happy to get her."
Zoustar's two latest millionaires were among four seven-figure lots on Day 1 of the sale that saw 222 yearlings offered generate $63,975,000 in turnover at an average of $390,091 with a $280,000 median with a 74 percent clearance.
Last year's opening day saw 208 yearlings offered, grossing $68,960,000 at an average of $389,605 with a $280,000 median and 85 percent clearance rate.
EASTER SALE DAY 1 TOP LOTS
$2,200,000 – Zoustar x Prompt Response filly. Bought by James Harron
$1,900,000 – Zoustar x Fundamentalist colt. Bought by Tom Magnier
$1,800,000 – I Am Invincible x Notting Hill filly. Bought by Hilldene Farm
$1,100,000 – Snitzel x Hips Don't Lie filly. Bought by Kia Ora Stud/TFI
$950,000 – Zoustar x Formality filly. Bought by Sheamus Mills/James Bester
$950,000 – Zoustar x Invictus Salute filly. Bought by Andrew Williams
$875,000 – Snitzel x Omei Sword colt. Bought by Rosemont/Chris Waller/Suman Hedge
