Mills’ Perth trip pays off with purchase of east-bound Zoustar filly at Magic Millions

Sheamus Mills will be hoping for an immediate pedigree update after buying the half-sister to a Blue Diamond contender at the Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale for $525,000.

The Victorian bloodstock agent made a flying visit for Western Australia earlier this week, inspecting a selection of the yearlings in the 358-lot catalogue at the Swan Valley complex before buying the Zoustar-Lubiton filly for the sale-topping price on Thursday.

Her two-year-old half-sister by I Am Invincible, the Annabel and Rob Archibald-trained Chayan, is an acceptor for Saturday’s Blue Diamond at Caulfield.

During a $14.73 million day of trade, the Zoustar filly came in for the most competition, with Mills’ Heath Newton-led fillies syndicate to send her to the east coast to be broken in and trained, but the next six highest-priced yearlings sold during the Book 1 session are set to remain in WA.

Trainers Ben and Dan Pearce paid $475,000 for the Playing God sister to Neville Parnham’s Group 1 winner Bustler as well as paying $360,000 for a colt out of Amthaal by the same sire.

The brothers also combined with agent Craig Rounsefell and Hayley Coyne on a Too Darn Hot colt out WA Listed winner Brave Angel for $325,000.

While the Pearces were seated at the back of the complex to undertake their restocking process, Mills had already flown back to Melbourne in preparation for the Inglis Premier Sale.

He bid for the Zoustar filly from his home office via the online platform.

“I like the athletic sort of Zoustars and she’s a beautiful walking filly and she satisfied all those requirements for me as in I went back and saw her just before they shut up shop (on Wednesday) and the girl said that she’d had her ears walked off,” Mills said.

“She was three quarters asleep in her arms, but when asked for a parade or asked for a walk, you wouldn’t have known, she just took off again, and I love seeing that in horses.”

Her dam Lubiton, a Group 3 winner, was bought by Ridgeport Holdings’ Santo Guagliardo from Michael Christian’s Longwood Thoroughbred Farm at the 2024 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale for $400,000 with the Zoustar filly in utero.

Mills revealed that some Western Australian owners could join his and Newton’s syndicate to race the filly, who will head to the Hunter Valley to be broken in after the Inglis Easter sale.

Ridgeport Holdings was the leading vendor, selling nine yearlings for a total of $1.79 million while Greenfields Lodge, who sold the Playing God colt to the Pearce brothers for $360,000, also grossed $1.595 million.

Gray Williamson’s Mungrup Pty Ltd, which sold the sister to Bustler, was the other vendor with a seven-figure aggregate with five yearlings selling for a total of $1.055 million to also be the leading vendor by average.

On the buyers’ front, Trevor Andrews bought seven yearlings for $925,000 while Ryan Hill also took home seven yearlings for a total cost of $635,000.

Trade was up $1.4 million year-on-year, with the average of $106,793 up $18,000 compared to 2025 and the median also climbed $10,000 to $80,000. The clearance rate was 82 per cent.

The Book 2 session starts at 10am (WST) on Friday.