When Zoustar mare Joliestar gets conditions to suit, the five year-old can produce a lethal turn of foot and we saw it at Randwick on Saturday when she exploded past a small but select field in the Group II ATC Expressway Stakes (1200m).
Chris Waller saddled three in the race that were all seen as winning hopes with Joliestar joined by Angel Capital and Lady Shenandoah.
Punters were initially with Angel Capital, but with late support Joliestar started favourite and under a cool ride from James McDonald she settled off the pace and was able to overpower the gallant leader Caballus, who kicked clear and looked set for victory.
Joliestar was not be denied and forged clear to win by more than a length over Caballus with Lady Shenandoah and Angel Capital in third and fourth.
“She is a mature horse now. Simple as that. Last year she needed to settle and relax and do the little things right and she does that now,” said Chris Waller.
“James put her into a beautiful position. Tactically that was great. It was a sprint home. Tommy (Berry on Caballus) just about pinched the race. James didn't go around them. He just stuck to the basics and rode her like a jockey should.”
Joliestar won the Group I VRC Newmarket Handicap last year at Flemington, but is unlikely to defend her title with a Sydney target a more likely assignment.
"We’ll see what James says. I'd say Canterbury Stakes (G1), 1300m, here at Randwick in three weeks time," Waller added.
James McDonald has ridden Joliestar in five of her eight wins including the Group I MRC Thousand Guineas over 1600m that she won as a three year-old.
“She was always going to be surging and then it was a matter of getting there in time,” he said.
"She always does, she takes a little bit to build through, hence why hustle and bustle sort of races can be the undoing of her, but when she gets the right setup like that, you'd be pushing it to find a horse who could beat her in this country."
A $950,000 Inglis Easter purchase for Cambridge Stud’s Brendan and Jo Lindsay from the Segenhoe Thoroughbreds draft, Joliestar has the impressive record of eight wins and seven placings from 19 starts with prizemoney topping $6.7million.
Bred by Chris and Jane Barham, Joliestar is a half-sister to stakes-placed God Of Thunder and Emperor and is the best of six winners from top-class Fastnet Rock mare Jolie Bay.
The Group II ATC Roman Consul Stakes winner and runner-up in the Group I VRC Coolmore Stud Stakes, Jolie Bay, is a sister to dual Group I winner Merchant Navy, Listed winner Setanta, and stakes-placed Zara Bay, the dam of Group II winner Airman.
Jolie Bay has a yearling filly by Anamoe that was sold by Segenhoe Stud at Magic Millions for $470,000 to Cambridge Stud, which looks like a comparative bargain.
Jolie Bay produced a colt by Zoustar last spring that is a full brother to Joliestar and she was then covered by Too Darn Hot (GB).
