Adelaide’s G1 Winner Funstar Sells for $2.7Million

Group I ATC Flight Stakes winner Funstar (4m Adelaide x Starspangled, by Danehill) will join her older half-sister Youngstar at Northern Farm in Japan after selling to Katsumi Yoshida for a Digital Sale world record price of $2.7m in the Inglis Digital July (Early) Online Auction.

Northern Farm, who bought Group I winning High Chaparral mare Youngstar for $1.4 million at last year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale, was one of eight different bidders competing for the prized mare over the $1 million mark.

“I am so thrilled that we were able to purchase a beautiful mare,” Yoshida said.

“We have her (half) sister Youngstar and also have mares related to the granddam User Friendly.

“We are looking forward to seeing their progenies winning in Japan.”

Funstar’s managing owner Olly Koolman – who discovered the filly at the 2018 Easter Yearling Sale where he purchased her for $80,000 – was lost for superlatives at the result.

“I’m absolutely stunned. It’s hard to fathom just how much of an amazing result this is,’’ Koolman said.

“She was a fabulous race filly and mare and we had a lot of fun with her but never in our wildest dreams did we expect she would sell for $2.7m in any sale, let alone a digital sale.

“I cannot speak highly enough of the Inglis Digital team, they worked their absolute butts off to promote this mare to buyers around the world and as an ownership group, I can’t speak highly enough of the Inglis team and what they have done to create a scenario where we get to reap the rewards of this result.”

Funstar won over $1.1million on the track winning five races and placing five times from 18 starts and is the best offspring to date for Adelaide, who stands at a fee of $5,500 this spring.

Her dam Starspangled has been a regular visitor to Coolmore and has a Pierro yearling colt that sold for $500,000 at Magic Millions, a weanling colt by Adelaide and is in foal to another Group I winning Galileo son in Churchill.