Better than Ready is on track to be crowned Champion Queensland Sire for the third year in a row and put the icing on the cake when his brilliant two year-old filly Isti Star scored a dazzling win in the $1million Magic Millions National 2YO Classic (1000m) at the Gold Coast on Friday evening.
Trained by Paul Shailer and ridden by Michael Rodd, Isti Star has show talent from day one and was one of the favourites in the $250,000 Magic Millions Debut last December when she finished unplaced.
Spelled immediately after that she returned with a fourth in the Listed BRC Calway Gal Stakes last month and then showed her true colours when bolting in at Ipswich to break her maiden by five lengths on May 10.
With race fitness, a good barrier and Michael Rodd on board, Isti Star found conditions to suit on Friday night and race don the pace before dashing clear to win by a length and a quarter over race favourite Prince Tycoon.
Isti Star was passed in shy of her $140,000 reserve when offered by Yarramalong Park at the Magic Millions and runs for Yarramalong and a big group of stable clients.
She has two wins from four starts and prizemoney topping $640,000 and her trainer believes this is just the beginning.
“I’m thrilled to bits. So proud of her because she's been through a lot, and obviously she was identified early on as a horse with immense talent, and we thought we could win Magic Millions 2YO (January), but it just went terribly wrong, and she's also suffered some allergies, and she was shin-sore, so we just had to put her aside and be patient,” said Paul Shailer.
“I'm very thankful to the ownership group who have been so patient with her.
“It hasn't been the ideal prep. We had to run her first up in the Calway Gale on a heavy track from an outside barrier as she needed that run with the view of being here tonight.
“Then she was brilliant at Ipswich and then tonight again, she proved that she's a real quality filly.
“She's versatile too . I think eventually she'll stretch out over seven furlongs plus. So we'll enjoy the night and go home and map out a plan for her, but she's an exciting horse.”
Isti Star was bred by Yarramalong and is the second winner from well related unraced Redoute’s Choice mare Istiraaha, a half-sister to Group I winner Rewaaya and to the dam of Group I winner Sense of Occasion.
She comes from the Asawir branch of the famed Easy Date family, so has the pedigree of a very commercial broodmare prospect for the future.
Istiraaha is married to Better Than Ready and has two more fillies to follow. Her yearling filly, a full sister to Isti Star, was sold by Yarramalong for $200,000 at Magic Millions this year to Gollan Racing/John Foote Bloodstock (FBAA)/Blacksoil Racing and she is back in foal to him again.
Better than Ready will stand at Lyndhurst Stud this spring at a fee of $27,500.
