It’s a Magic Millions wrap - Smitten for Written and Sunny days for Zoustar!

What an exceptional week for Woodside Park Stud and their two stallions, the Victorian Champion Written Tycoon and the hottest young sire, Zoustar both proudly flying the flag for the Victorian thoroughbred industry, with exceptional sales results and outstanding winners around the country.

While the seven Written Tycoon youngsters, were in high demand from the start, with the first colt out of the Favelon mare La Paris, quickly snapped up by China Horse Club’s Michael Wallace for $520,000.

Murray Tillett, General Manager Bloodstock at Woodside, was confident that the colt would sell very well.  “He was very popular, with over 200 parades throughout the week. He handled that with ease, he never turned a hair and we knew that would stand him in good stead for people looking at him as a potential stallion prospect,” Tillett said.

“We could never have dreamt it, these yearlings at the moment are still off his $18,000 service fee. It has been great to catch up with all the Victorian clients that bred to him a number of years ago.”

To be trained by Peter and Paul Snowden, China Horse Club’s Michael Wallace said the son of Written Tycoon was a mature colt who would be broken in with the aim of having him ready to target early-season juvenile races later this year.

And while James Harron Bloodstock was “Smitten by Written”, he certainly got a sale ring steal, with Lot 774, the Written Tycoon ex Goldirocks.

“As he has been a great supporter of Written Tycoon, and he held the previous sale record price for the farm, we are happy for him as we know he will give the colt every opportunity to succeed,” Murray Tillet said.

Waiting until the final session to secure Woodside’s top-priced Written Tycoon, Lot 803 was Aquis Farm, obtaining, the outstanding colt out of the Octagonal mare, Hill Street Blues for $625,000.

“I loved him from the moment we saw him. He vetted clean and had a real presence about him,” Aquis Farm’s Shane McGrath said. “He is the colt we have been waiting the whole sale for.”

Setting a new stud record, the Hill Street Blues colt was the most ever paid for a yearling from the leading Victoria-based operation.

Woodside Park Stud – Written Tycoon Draft results

Overall, Written Tycoon was again the leading Victorian stallion on the Coast, averaging $278,913 with over 23 lots sold, and was the eighth leading stallion nationally by average and ninth by aggregate.

But the Zoustar yearlings were certainly stealing plenty of attention, with the hype leading up to the sales courtesy of the exceptionally talented filly, Sunlight.

And she didn’t disappoint, as Sunlight lit up the Gold Coast and stamped her class with a dominate victory in the $2,000,000 Magic Millions two-year-old Classic, prompting her trainer Tony McEvoy to now look ahead to the Group 1 Golden Slipper.

"Why wouldn't we chase the Golden Slipper? She has shown today she is a very smart filly," McEvoy said.

“I have got three two-year-olds by Zoustar in my stable and that’s not enough. I wish I had bought more,” McEvoy said.

“He (Zoustar) was a great racehorse and he is throwing tremendous types. They have got great depth and I think trainers love them because you can train them because of the balance and athleticism that they have got. I am happy to continue to support him.”

An incredible week for the young gun stallion, Zoustar’s second crop of yearlings averaged $277,045 for the first book of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for a total aggregate of $6,095,000.

The five outstanding youngsters that were offered by Woodside Park Stud sold brilliantly, with the sales team flat out during inspections to generate a 100% clearance rate for the admired young sire.

James Harron was happy to get the ball rolling with the first Zoustar, lot 17, to be offered, and paid $375,000 for the colt from the city winner, Lady Lakshmi.

Lot 833 was the impressive yearling out of Invested Capital secured by Victorian Brad Spicer, and he has confirmed that the chestnut colt will follow in Sunlight’s footsteps, heading to the stables of Tony McEvoy.

Woodside Park Stud – Zoustar Draft results

Zoustar finished the sale as the ninth highest stallion overall, and was inside the top 10 by average and aggregate. Closely behind his stablemate Written Tycoon, Zoustar was the second highest Victorian stallion represented.

Zoustar’s top lot for the sale came late in the book, with lot 716, an outstanding filly from Farasha (Jeune) for $800,000, bred by Sheikh Fahad Al Thani, a shareholder in Zoustar to China Horse Club’s Michael Wallace.

“On a whole, the results we achieved throughout the week reflected our growth in professionalism, and the acceptance by the market of the progeny of our stallions,”Murray Tillett said.

“Woodside presented our strongest and most successful draft of yearlings to date and without the hard work, dedication and 110% effort from the entire team these outstanding results would not have been possible.”

“Both stallions were in the top ten leading sire charts; which given they were Victorian based stallions selling in Queensland, in opposition with all the stallions standing in the Hunter Valley, is a great achievement for Woodside Park Stud and a wonderful endorsement for the Victorian breeding industry,” Murray Tillett said.