Zoustar’s shot at eclipsing I Am Invincible’s record number of Australian winners in a season is set to go down to the wire as the Widden Stud star moved to 208 for 2023/24, level with the mark I Am Invincible set in 2020/21.
Newzou’s maiden win at Pakenham on Monday for trainer Matt Laurie enabled Zoustar to get within touching distance of the Australian record, with two days of the racing season remaining. He then moved level when Madame Meteor won the last race at Albury, her first win in 16 months.
While he has three of his progeny entered at Ballarat on Tuesday and another 10 around the country on Wednesday, only two of the 13 horses on that list are shooting for their first wins this season.
The record is for individual winners, not wins, so one of those two horses would have to win to give Zoustar the record in his own right.
Nominator contests a 1000m benchmark race for trainer Kane Harris at Ballarat on Tuesday, while the appropriately named All Eyes On Her debuts for Chris Waller at Warwick Farm over 1100 metres on Wednesday.
All Eyes On Her, whose dam is Group 3 winner Sexy Eyes, was a $1 million purchase for Katsumi Yoshida of Northern Farm at last year’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. She was recently placed in a Rosehill barrier trial.
Yarraman Park’s I Am Invincible, who will be crowned champion stallion for the third straight season, is second for the most winners this season on 175, while Yulong’s Written Tycoon moved to 167 winners with two new winners at Pakenham on Monday.
Zoustar already holds the record for the number of wins (as opposed to winners) by a sire in a season with 363 this campaign. I Am Invincible previously set the record last season on 338.
Should Zoustar get four more winners over the next two days then he would have averaged one winner per day over the season. I Am Invincible has 290 wins this season while Written Tycoon has 273.
