Lightsaber to stand for $6,600 at Darling View

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Darling View Stud has launched their eagerly anticipated new stallion Lightsaber (Zoustar) on the eve of this year’s Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale, setting the Group 2 winner’s fee for the coming breeding season at $6,600 (inc GST). 

It was revealed last month the leading Western Australia stud had purchased, along with partners, the son of Zoustar (Northern Meteor), who came desperately close to earning a Group 1 success, finishing second to Hitotsu (Maurice) in the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) at Flemington.

Darling View’s Brent Atwell believed the high-class two-year-old and Group 3-winning three-year-old will appeal to the burgeoning WA market, both on pedigree and ability.

“Our market here needed an outcross…  and throughout Australia, but also internationally, Zoustar is doing such a wonderful job. You couldn’t say no to having a son of Zoustar on your roster,” Atwell told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“They will be early and precocious sorts of horses and our market loves that here. But he’s a horse with scope, I believe. Lightsaber raced on and did well throughout his three-year-old campaign. I think they’ll be sharp enough sorts of horses that they will go early here but train on.”

Lightsaber, an $80,000 yearling and $100,000 Inglis Ready2Race purchase for Blueblood Thoroughbreds, was trained by Peter Moody to win three consecutive races at two, culminating in an all-the-way victory in the VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m).

Returning at three, Lightsaber was beaten just a length when fourth behind Bruckner (Snitzel) and Artorius (Flying Artie) in the HDF McNeil Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), before he won the Caulfield Guineas Prelude (Gr 3, 1400m) and filled fourth again in the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), trailing Anamoe (Street Boss), Captivant (Capitalist) and Artorius (Flying Artie).

He retired after six unplaced efforts in the spring with a record of four wins from 19 starts.

Lightsaber, whose family traces back to fourth dam Piccadilly Circus (Royal Academy), the dam of champion sire Fastnet Rock (Danehill), continues a significant investment by Darling View in their stallion roster, the Mundijong-based stud having launched dual Group 2 winner Splintex (Snitzel) last year.

The son of Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) covered 118 mares at a fee of $11,000 (inc GST) during the spring.

“A number of years ago our market got quite stagnant. First and foremost, as a business, we’ve got to keep the ball rolling. If you tread water for five minutes you’ll be out of the game,” Atwell said.

“We’re always looking to invest. Not reinvent the wheel, but keep things invigorated and appealing to the buyers, so that when we bring yearlings to the sale it’s exciting for them.

“Hopefully it will work out, firstly for Splintex, and then for Lightsaber.”

In light of booming sales success and windfall bonuses courtesy of the much-lauded WestSpeed incentive scheme, breeders in WA have sought to upgrade their broodmare bands in recent years, and Atwell said the stud’s investment in two ‘high-class’ sires fed a desire from local breeders to support the local stallions on offer.

“Travelling your mares over to the east coast is more expensive and not as easy as it probably once was. So, when you take that into account and factor in the WestSpeed bonuses, more and more breeders are choosing to leave their mares here now and utilise our stallions. And if we can offer something that’s exciting and has good bloodlines, that will only serve to further encourage breeders to stay here,” he said.

“One thing that I always do is look through a sale and see what the top trainers and buyers are getting. You take the Waterhouses, the Wallers, the Ciaron Mahers, the Bjorn Bakers, we want to be putting yearlings by stallions in front of those buyers that they want to buy.

“And locally, the likes of Trevor Andrews, Simon Miller, David Harrison, what is it that they want? There’s no point in having a stallion just to have a stallion. So, I think that’s one reason why Splintex got such a good book; the pedigree and the type.

“We’re lucky with Lightsaber in that we’ve got a great group involved in him. There’s eight farms involved in him and they can see the opportunities that Lightsaber can provide for them and their clients.”

Lightsaber and Splintex are joined on the Darling View roster by champion WA sire Playing God (Blackfriars), Patronize (Redoute’s Choice) and champion WA two-year-old Lucky Street (Oratorio), with fees for the stud’s complete line-up set to be released at a later date.